Shiloh Stark
by Lady Olivia Devereax
Summary: Tony Stark's 16 year old adopted daughter is the youngest S.H.I.E.L.D agent, as well as personal friend of the Avengers and as good at science like her adopted dad, Stark and Banner. Shiloh homeschools, what with being at work. But when she meets both Spider Man and Peter Parker...uh oh. I'm really happy with the way this is turning out.
1. Chapter 1

I tossed back the blankets and threw my legs over the side of the bed. The side wall—which was practically all glass—let in the New York view. "Rise and shine, Shy," Pepper Potts poked her head in the door.

Stretching, I nodded. "Coming, Pepper." She wasn't my mother. I didn't have one. My mother died—a friend of my adopted father's. My dad was gone before I was born.

The sky was still dark, as it was still 4:30 AM. "Breakfast is waiting," Pepper Potts called down the hall. Running a brush through my brown hair and slipping my reading glasses into their sleeve, I made my bed and brushed my teeth.

"It's not like S.H.I.E.L.D taught you to keep your room clean as much as they taught you to be a spy—sort of. I took on that responsibility myself. I went quickly to the elevator—Tony Stark doesn't waste a lot of time with stairs—and requested for JARVIS to open the doors.

"Of course, Miss Stark," JARVIS responded politely. I laughed. Pepper thought him annoying. I thought he, just like most of my adopted dad's inventions, was awesome. I stepped out of the elevator, zipping up my blue S.H.I.E.L.D uniform. "Ah, Shiloh! Just the person I wanted to see!" Tony Stark wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Morning, Dad," I said. "You look more professional than Pepper this morning," he said, noticing my neat bun, the Stark Phone in my hand, my glasses beside it and, finally my attire. "Why, thank you. I make that my personal goal every morning," I smirked sarcastically.

"Pepper, you remember what I told you earlier?" Tony asked. I looked up at him questioningly. She nodded and extracted something from her purse. I readthe label and smiled. "You got me contact lenses!" I smiled. "I hate thise glasses. They make you look...nerdy." Tony said, cracking his signature smirk, which I had picked up as well.

"I don't like 'em much either." I set the glasses on the counter and began to open the box. "I'm leaving this to you. If you can handle Fury's gadgets, as well as my own, I think you can handle little pieces of plastic or whatever those things are," Tony walked to the living room, or, one of them, anyway.

It was 5 when we finally ate breakfast. I took a sip of my espresso. I was '16. Far too young to be drinking coffee black.' according to Pepper Potts. 'It stunts your growth.' she claimed. I think she was just trying to scare me.

"Now Shiloh; you still have your school work to do when you get back," Pepper said, pointing down at the floor where my level of Stark Tower was. "I know. And Dad, are you coming in today?" I asked, grabbing my black shoulder bag. "Not sure Sunshine. Depends on what Fury wants," He looked a bit annoyed that Fury had the say-so.

"Okay," I looked at Pepper who was rumaging through her purse. "Tony, I'm going to Stark Enterprizes as soon as I drop Shy off at S.H.I.E.L.D. You have a press conference here at three—don't forget." Pepper looked at her silverwatch.

"Oh, and you got a call from someone named OsBorne." She opened the door for me and I stepped out. I heard the jingle of her keys behind me. "See ya, Shy!" Tony stood at the door. "And be sure to buckle your seat belt. Pepper isn't the best at the wheel." He whispered loud enough for Pepper to hear.

"Right, Dad." I stifled a giggle and walked to the Lambourgini. The gray car was one of Dad's less fancy cars. He had vehicles that weren't even on the market yet. Iswear he's made a few himself.

"Agent Romanoff will pick you up," Pepper said. I knew already. That had happened every day since I became the youngest S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Agent Stark. I had always wanted to be addressed as Agent something or other.

I took my phone and checked my messages before noticing Pepper watch me intently. "I know. I look like a slob when I don't wear makeup." I said. "Not my exact words, but you would look a bit more professional." she looked pointedly at one of the bags in the backseat.

"Fine." I reached back and grabbed the bag. Pepper gave me instructions that put me in a corner I couldn't back out of. Sighing, I applied clear lip gloss, mascara and black eyeliner. "You could do Egyptian style eyeliner..." Pepper suggested. I snapped the bag shut. "Uh uh. This'll do, thanks so much." I said.

She had already gotten me to paint my nails a tan-ish pink, which I was coming to like. At least my nails weren't so long that they got in the way of my typing. "Herewe are," Pepper pulled up. She kissed me on the cheek. What can I say? I love it when she acts like my mom

"See ya, Pepper." I hugged her and stepped out of the car, slipped on a pair of sunglasses and waited, leaning against the building behind me. I waved to the departing Lambourgini and looked down at my magazine. "Agent Stark," I looked up, swiping off my shades.

"Agent Romanoff," I nodded to the red head who stood beside her black S.H.I.E.L.D vehicle. "Hey, kid," Natasha smiled at me. Despite her annoyance at my dad, she had kind of (kind of) taken me under her wing. But don't tell her that. She's still a tough spy.

"Been working on your judo?" she asked. I was mostly a computer girl, sometimes I went out in the field, not offen, but Natasha made sure I was ready. My second Martial Art, Judo, was my favorite so far. Jujitsu was great. Just, not this great.

"Good. You still type faster than Agent Hill?" Agent Romanoff asked. "Working on it," I said. Natasha drove onto the heli-carrier and parked in the garage. "Steve is here?" I asked, noticing his motorcycle. "All but your dad," Natasha responded, stepping out.

I went up the elevator with her and walked into the large room. Above all the computers, the large table with chairs around it was filled with the Avengers. "Hello, Miss Stark," Steve Rogers teased. He had stopped calling me that unless he wanted my attention or he wanted to get on my nerves.

"Greetings, Shiloh Stark." I rolled my eyes a bit. "Good morning, Steve. Thor," I turned around. "Hi, Shiloh," Bruce smiled shyly. He was quiet, which is rather ironic, considering the 'Other Guy'.

"Shy. Nat." Clint walked in, a mug in his hand. "Clint," Natasha went to stand by him. I walked past him toward my locker, saying as I went, "I got a lot of practice in this weekend," Clint gave a half smile. He was trying to teach me archery, and I was willing to learn.

Natasha and Clint often argued about if I became a field agent, what my name would be. Natasha would claim it to be Tarantula or something like that while Clint would say Eagle Eye or Eagle or something.

I came back without my bag and joined the others at the table, returning my phone to the case on my belt and inserting my earpiece. "Ladies and gentlemen," Nick Fury and Maria Hill entered the room. "Agent Stark, Tony will be arriving shortly." He addressed me briefly and returned his gaze to the room.

"I hate to break it to you, but Loki is back. This time, he's hiding. Apparently he's still after the Tesseract, which Thor tells me has gone missing." Heglared at the Norse god and turned his gaze to the room. "Agent Stark, I want you to be able to help Banner and S—your father in the lab whenever they need you." He turned his one eye toward me.

"Yes sir," I nodded. "Hill, keep your comms unit activated. Romanoff, I want you to run a security check with Barton. The rest of you, go polish boots or something. Just stay out of my way." Fury sent one glare behind him and disappeared down the hall.

I sent a glance toward Natasha and Clint before jogging down the stairs to my station. "Oh, Agent Stark," I looked up. Natasha stood atthe railing. "Get ready for target practice today," She winked at me. I smiled and nodded. When I lookedback at her hereues had gone serious and she was now the no-nonsense agent that held her reputation.


	2. Speak of the Devil

I settled at my station, more serious than I thought I would ever be before the age of twenty-three. Shortly after I had typed in my code, I heard a clunk above us. Everyone looked up. I only sighed, a smile curving my lips. I heard mechanical purrs, and then Tony entered, dressed in his normal suit.

Iron Man was put away in its case. He spoke with Fury for aminuye, and made his way over to me. Crouching down, he glanced at my computer screen and smirked. "I could make better equipment than this in my sleep. With the help of JARVIS, of course." "I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark," I grinned, still focused on my typing.

"I'm headed over to Banner's lab. We might need you a little later, so...carry on, Agent Stark," He patted my shoulder before leaving the room. I continued going over the security cameras of the places Loki 'visited' last time.

I was still working on Germany, when I sa. A pair of Black combat boots on the floor beside my computer screen. "What have you found, Stark?" Fury asked. "Nothing so far, sir. He hasn't shone his face at all." I fast-forwarded through a clip of video, my eyes darting across the screen.

"Well, keep me in the loop. Hill!" He turned away, and I clicked on another bit of feed. Thirty minutes later, I barely detected soft footsteps and looked up. Natasha stood above me, looking around. "Check the Heli-Carrier's cams, too," she said.

"Okay," I closed the window I had finished surfing through and logged into the HC's main frame. "When do I start from?" I asked "Two days ago." Natasha crouhed down, watching my work.

I scanned through the video feed. "There are so many cameras in this place. It will take a long time." "Try facial recognition," Tony's voice came through my ear piece. "Right," I berated myself for not thinking sooner. I typed it in and watched the computer execute my command. "*Beep* No 'Loki_43806' found. *Beep*"

I sighed. "We've got a match!" I heard another man say. Fury ran over immediately. Crawford, the man who had spoken, looked at me. He nodded and typed something in. What he had found bad been transfered onto my screen.

"Oh. My. Gosh." I whispered. "What?" Steve was looking at my screen. Agent Crawford had found a picture and a longitude-latitude location. "Hold on, let me double check," My fingers flew across the keys, slowly but surely bringing my fears to life.

"He's at the White House." "When was this?" People began running back and forth across stations, getting every bit of data. "Three hours ago, sir." I called. "Captain," Fury nodded at Steve. Steve ran off and Fury pressed his finger to his ear.

"Agent Romanoff, Barton. Stark and Banner, I need you out here. Now." I reran all of the data, checking it. "I've got the White House security cameras," I said. "Thank you, JARVIS," I muttered, looking at my phone.

"Check them!" Fury pointed at me, his one brown eye cold and hard. Tony and Bruce ran in, followed by Natasha and Clint. "You three take the Quinn-Jet with the Captain and Agent Stark. Tony, you suit up." Fury directed, and began to turn away when Tony grabbed his arm.

"What has she got to do with this?" He pointed a finger at me. "She knows what's happening. She knows where you're going. And thanks to the best spies in S.H.I.E.L.D, she's had professional weapons training. Agent Stark is one of the best computer persons in this room. But I need her there. Go." Fury bit back his temper as I stood.

"Let's go!" Natasha called. "It's okay, Dad." I said, running after Natasha. I was thankful the heels on my boots didn't make any noise—they were thick, hard rubber. I stepped in the jet and buckled myself in the passenger seat. Natasha sat in the back across from Steve, checking her pistols and magazines.

"Shiloh," She reached forward and handed me a gun in its holster. I slid the holster on to my belt and slipped in the four magazines she handed me. "I guess now's as good a time as any for you to learn how to fly," Clint remarked quietly.

He began pointing out the different controls, what they did and narrated as he piloted the jet. I saw Iron Man flying beside us. "Agent Romanoff," Tony's voice came through our ear pieces. "If anything happens to Shiloh, I'll have your hide." I rolled my eyes, laughing.

"She's not my babysitter, Dad. I can take care of myself." Tony said nothing, but turned his head toward me. Clint smirked and continued to teach me how to fly. "Can we speed it up, Barton?" Steve asked. "One second, Captain." he shifted the jet and we sped up, going noticably faster.

We were silent, and I noticed Clint's jaw working. He hated Loki. Nothing would please him more than to land an arrow into his heart.I still faintly saw the red circles under his eyes. The agent hadn't eaten or slept during his time as Loki's puppet.

I did an 'anatomy' check of my gun, dropping and reloading the magazine multiple times, just to make sure I knew what I was doing. "You'll have to bring your bow next time," Clint said quietly. I smiled slightly. "I'll remember that." I said, looking back down at the empty gun in my hands. I replaced it in it's holster and pulled out my phone, runnin through the informationJARVIS had provided me with.

When we finally arrived in DC, it was quiet—or, normal, anyway. It had been four hours since that picture had been taken, and security cams showed that he was still there. Suddenly, I heard glass shatter. I looked up to see what was formerly a window pane drop to the ground below.

We were still blocks from the White House. Natasha and Clint took off, and I followed. Tony was outside the gates. I heard screaming, and then there was Loki. "My old friends," He greeted, holding the president by the throat. "Put him down, Loki." I looked up. Thor landed beside me, which made Loki turn.

Ignoring his half brother, Loki looked me up and down. "She's just a girl! You brought a child? How petty." Loki tossed the president carelessly from the second story window. Iron Man caught him and set him on the ground.

"Give up, Loki," Iron Man advised. "Before I steal your glow stick of destiny," I concealed a smirk. Loki looked down at his sceptar and shook his head. "I don't take orders from you, peasants." He spat. He jumped, landing lightly on his feet. "Don't destroy the White House," I heard the president plead.

His two daughters were being gaurded by the door. Natasha saw them and beckoned to me. I ran with her. She pulled out a knife and stabbed it into...well...I think it was the kidney—you never know with an alien.

I lifted a leg and kicked the second one in the head, dropped an arm to his neck and looped it around him. Yanking, I turned his head to an awkward angle, leaving him to drop to the ground. The third jumped at me. I fell to one knee and fired one bullet at him, then dropped a shoulder and rolled to the side as he lunged at me.

When I straightened, he was on the ground, an arrow through hus skull. "Good work, kid," Natasha said grabbing one of the girls. Clint took another and ran, me following and checking over my shoulder, pistol drawn. Suddenly, I saw a brown arm around my waist and then the ground fell away from my feet.

I was jostled as the alien ran. I shouted roughly, trying to angle the pistol to his him, not me. He jerked my arm and I dropped the gun on accident. "Ugh," I clawed at him, but his skin was like Kevlar. A headache had begun to form within my skull after the forst few blocks.

I heard Tony's suit firing weapons of all kinds. Suddenly I was dropped to the ground, and the alien stood above me. A glowing blue spear rested its tip between my eyes. The alien grunted gutteral sounds, pressing one foot down on my stomach. I wrapped my fingers around the shaft of the spear and jerked it up, hitting him in the forhead.

He fell back, dazed as I jumped up, whacked him over the head with it and stabbed it through his chest. The spear went from blue to crimson and he disintegrated. Then the spear returned to its normal electric blue state.

I noted with surprise and annoyance that I was a mile from the White House. Then I saw an abandon Honda FireBlade motorcycle. I ran over to the red and black bike, turned the ignition key and slid the spear under my leg so I could keep it throughout the fight.

The bike purred to life. "Music to my ears," I murmured. I shifted it into fifth gear and throttled it forward, swerving between cars and buildings toward the fight. I saw four aliens backing Natasha against the wall. I pulled the long ribbon out of my hair and tied the throttle to the foot peg and whistled loudly. Natasha saw me and jumped up. I grabbed the spear and leapt from the bike, leaving it to smash into the aliens. They fell in a pile, and I saw the petrol tank spilling gas.

"Got a flare?" I asked Clint. He shook his head. Instead, he shot an explosive arrow and I jumped back as the bike exploded, flame engulfing the four creatures. I looked around. "Where's Loki?" I suddenly saw him and Thor crash into a building. "Speak of the devil and he will appear," Clint growled, nocking an arrow.

"Uh, Clint, can I see that?" he stared at me and handed me the bow. I heard a roar and saw the hulk to my left. But I was more interested at the squad of aliens headed to the Lincoln Memorial. I shot the arrow and it whizzed away, landing on the ground between them. They had time enough to looo at it quizzically before I lushed a button and it blew up.

"Here you go," I handed it back and grabbed the spear that had dropped. "What's that?" Natasha asked. "A disintigrator spear. Get one." I pointed to a fallen alien. I heard a growl behind me and spun around, sinking the spear into alien flesh.

I shifted the spear into my left hand and reached for my pistol, to find that it wasn't there. I saw it on the ground twenty feet ahead of me. But to get to it, I had to pass five aliens. Taking a deep breath, I ran forward, slammed the butt of the spear into the ground and launched myself over the first one.

Upon meetin the second, I threw up a leg and hit him in the jaw. He swung his spear toward me but I knocked it away with 'my' own and twisted, stabbing him in the heart. I swiped the spear at the legs of the third, tripped him and jumped over him, twisted in mid air and impaled him in the back.

At the fifth, I jumped up, but he grabbed my head and threw me to the ground. I felt a gash on my left cheek bone and winced. He swiped a hand across my forehead, leaving four gashes from his claws. I turned back to the fourth alien whom I had jumped over, stabbed him in the neck and swung my spear around, slicing through the fifth.

Breathing heavily, I picked up my gun, reloaded it and noticed blood dripping down my forehead into my eyelids, and from my cheek down my chin. "How you doin', Shy?" "I'm Great, I—!" I gasped, dropped the gun and the spear and looked down.

A gold knife protruded from my stomach. I dropped to the ground, my head smacking against the concrete. Black dots swarmed against my vision. I saw the alien looming above me. I faintly heard Tony shouting through the ear piece. I saw the blue glow of his spear pointed st my eyes.

The knife was still embedded in me, and I saw the glint of it past my heaving chest. I gasped in panic and pain every other second, unable to move. I saw the spear being lifted, and brought back down to end me. Then red and blue colors flashed in fromt of me and the alien was thrown back.

"Shiloh!" I heard Steve shout in my ear as he pulled me up. My hair flew in my face, stinging as it whipped across the gashes. He held me bridle style, my should pressed into his chest. Steve pushed my hair out of my eyes and looked at me in concern. I saw Iron Man and Natasha to my left, and screamed as the cold blade left my body.

Blood pooled on my stomach and chest. I gasped harder, my entire body shaking with it. "Shiloh," Iron Man took me and suddenly we were in the air. I felt my blue suit become soaked with blood right before I blacked out.

**Whew! Long chapter. I am loving this story! Anyone else share the excitement? Sorry about the slight-cliff-hanger, but I've got to go for now. By the way, I envision Shiloh as looking like Ellen Page with forest green eyes, and almost as tall as Tony (Robert Downey Jr.). Review! :)**


	3. Quick Get Away

**Sorry. We hadn't any internet. **

Chapter 3: Quick Get-Away

I woke up in a bed, a blanket covering me. I sat up and groaned, pain spiking up my abdomen. My head was light, either from pain or pain-killer, I've no idea.

But then the door opened and I realized I wore only my bra and underwear, with the exception of a few bandages. I pulled the blanket up to my chin, blinking against the pain.

"Easy, kid. Its just me." Natasha walked in, drying her hands. I sat back, relieved. "You did this?" I gestured to the bandages "A spy's got to know what she's doing. Weapons, martial arts, speed, agility, medicine," She shrugged, poured water into a glass and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I grunted, leaning forward to take a drink. I was afraid to even knit my eyebrows, for fear of stitches or scabs breaking. Of course I was just paranoid and a bit woozy.

Sighing, I finally looked around. We were in the medical quarters of the Heli-Carrier. "Agent Stark," Fury's voice blared through the intercom.

"You and Tony are free to return home. Loki has disappeared, and you will again be called in when he shows that pretty little face of his." Fury's voice rang with disgust.

My fingers scrambled to press the intercom button, and I responded strongly, "Yes sir," I clutched my blanket, sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

Natasha left, setting a stack of clothes on the chair beside the bed. I stood, pain arcing through me. I bit my lip and slid on a dark blue t-shirt, a light blue button up, leavin it open, and a pair of jeans. I bent down, groaning as I laced up my combat boots.

I found the mirror and a clear plastic bag with things in it. "Shiloh." Tony had scrawled on top. A toothbrush, hair brush and bands, as well as toothpaste. I brished my teeth and pulled my hair up, securing it.

Sighing, clutching my stomach, I walked to the door and opened it. Standing straight and walking quickly, my pride allowed me to show no weakness. "How are you?" Steve saw me first.

"Great, thanks, Steve," I smiled, waving away his supporting hand. "You did great out there, Shy," Bruce remarked quietly.

"Of course she did," Tony set his magazine on the counter and smirked at me. "And see? She's still strong enough to hold her own," He draped an arm over my shoulder lightly as Clint and Natasha walked in.

"You are just full of surprises." Clint teased dryly. "She's strong. She learned it from me," Natasha smirked gloatingly. "But her sharp eye she learned from me," Clint retorted.

"Good evening, ladies. We'll be going now," Tony handed me a jacket and we went to the hanger. I watched him suit up. I braced myself as he grabbed me with one arm, jumped out of the HC and flew back toward NYC, which I could faintly see already.

Despite the warm jacket, cold air seeped into my bones and I shivered. At Stark Tower, Pepper held me up and led me towards my room. I sent a 'help-me-please!' look toward Tony and followed.

I sat in my room, flipping through a science magazine when I heard my door open. Thinking it was Pepper, I continued flipping. "Want to come work on SOCA?" Tony asked. (SO-Ka: Shiloh's Own Computer Aid)

"You just made my day," I met his smirk with my own, a band clamped around my waist as I followed him to the elevator. "JARVIS, get the computers up and running," Tony said.

When we stepped out of the elevator, the 3D computer screens were all on and showed pictures of one of Tony's cars. Three 3D computer screens showed my own MV Agusta F4CC. It was a black motorcycle, that Tony bought me just this year. I glanced to the corner of the room where it was parked beside the black and white Bugatti Veyron.

I walked over to my own workplace, three projects waiting for me. But first I want to finish SOCA. "Dad?" I called, typing in my password. "Hmm?" He was already busy at his computer.

"You're not going to let me go fight with you guys anymore, are you?" I asked. "Not now, Sunshine. You're a brilliant fighter, but you've got no protection..." Tony drifted off, an idea dawning on him.

"What?" I asked, continueing to work on programing SOCA. "Hmm? Oh, nothing." Tony turned on his ACDC, the only music beside techno and a few other hard metal bands that I really enjoyed.

"How is it coming along?" Tony asked, walking over about an hour later. "Almost...done..." My fingers flew over the keys. "All I'm doing now is programming it to...um...everything?" I laughed.

I connected SOCA to Stark Tower, giving her all the access that JARVIS has. "Again, why not just use JARVIS?" Tony asked, leaning on her desk. "Because you need JARVIS every second. I need SOCA, otherwise you'll kill him. Death by overload." I clicked 'Activate' and my project that I have worked on every day for two weeks came to life.

"SOCA?" Tony asked in a sing-song voice. "Yes, Mr. Stark?" Tony smiled at me. I smirked and decided to trick him. "Turn up my music, will you?" "Yes, Mr. Stark," Tony jumped when SOCA sounded like Dennis Haysbert. "You devil. Fix the voice," He said, glaring playfully at me.

"Okay..." I switched back the voice and smiled. Tony clapped me on the ahoulder and I winced. "Good work, Sunshine," "Thanks, Dad." I looked over at my motorcycle. "No riding until you're healed better," Tony pointed something at me as he walked back to his work station.

"I understand." "Shiloh! Why aren't you resting?" Pepper came in, glaring at Pepper. "Because there are more important things to do?" I offered "Tony!" Pepper looked to him for help. "She's right, Pep," He shrugged, waved his hand at the door and waited. Pepper didn't leave

"You never called Harry Osborne back," She said. "I was a bit busy," he said, looking to where his bots were reparing the Iron Man suit. "Yeah, well, he's waiting." Pepper sauced. "Whoa, cheer up, Pep." Tony frowned at her.

"Shiloh, you ride that motorcycle and I'll take away your computers." Pepper threatened. "Got it," I said. "Hey, Shiloh, come over here," Tony said. He was at the largest3D screen, typing in a phone number.

A teenage boy, about nineteen by my reconing, appeared on the screen. He had curly brown hair. "Hello, Mr. Stark," he said, a bit impatien. "Yeah. Hi. This is my daughter and personal assistant, Shiloh," I just crossed my arms and stared at him, emotionless

"Miss Stark," He nodded at me before turning back to Tony. "We have a proposition for you," "I figured as much. What is it this time? A fund for gunea pigs? Maybe a few microscopes?" Tony smirked. "No," Harry looked at his folded hands and gave an impatient laugh.

"You join OsCorp's labratory people, and we'll fund you for the rest of your life." "D-does a man like me need funds?" Tony asked, faking a stutter. He looked at me. "Not in your lifetime," I said. "Well," Harry began. "No, you see, I am not a scientist. Shiloh is more along that line of work," I gasped and winced, pain spiking up my abdomen.

Harry frowned at my contorted face. "Miss Stark, are you alright?" his concern made Tony look at me. I straightened again. "Yes, Mr. Osborne, thank you," he nodded, and looked away from the screen. "Oh, hi Peter. Just a minute," he returned to Tony. "I see this conversation has no need to go on. Thank you, Mr. Stark," the screen went black.

"Uh huh," Tomy turned away and walked back to his desk. "You doing okay?" he asked. "Yeah," I wrapped my arm around my waist and walked to my workstation and picked up my next project. It was a really really thick diary. The cover was the thickness of an iPad. There was a digital screen on top that would only allow the book to be opened if I typed in the code.

And on the inside cover was a computer screen where I could do research or something. It also meant I could have access to SOCA. "Isn't Harry OsBorne one of the richest people in NYC?" I asked. "One of them," He said, walking over to the cases of Iron Man suits.

"And OsCorp is the huge science building?" I flipped the notebook closed and tested it. "Yup," Tony turned the music back up and we worked in silence.

That night, i felt a hand on my shoulder and just barely caught myself from grabbing and breaking it. "Get up, Shiloh. We have to disappear." Tony whispered. It was 1:00 AM. I shot up, ignored my burning stomach and dressed in my clothes from yesterday.

I grabbed my emergency back pack from the closet, which contained an extra laptop, Stark Phone, keys to my motorcycle, S.H.I.E.L.D uniform and other things. "What's going on?" I asked, grabbing my glasses from the counter and tying my combat boots. "Loki's a man with a plan. He's got special trained men on us, and all the other Avengers. We're splitting up."

Tony said. "I'm taking Agusta," I said, holding my keys. "You are going to the California house," Tony said. "Got it," I slid my black leather pants and jacket over my clothes and carried my black street helmet under my arm.

"Use the Stark Phone. Not even my home phones are secure. Pepper and I are going to Hawaii. (I'm jus pretending Stark has a place in Hawaii,) Stay safe," Tony hugged me and picked up the keys to his orange and black Marussia. "Bye Pepper," She hugged me and kissed my foreHead.

We all walked down to the basement. Tony's Iron Man traveling case was already in the car. I laughed. My motorcycle, clothes and back pack were all black. "See you later!" I called, sitting on my beloved Agusta. It roared to life and I drove out, looking at my programmed GPS. My Bluetooth had SOCA programmed to it, as well as my book. I had it up loud enough to hear, and I was more excited than frightened as I drove into the morning sun.


	4. California House

**Hey, a bunch of people have favorited/followed, but I have one review! :( Even constructive critisizm is welcome! :)**

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Three days later I reached the California house. "SOCA, you there?" I called. "Yes, Miss Stark," She responded. "Lock down the building, will you?" "Yes, Miss Stark."

I walked to the kitchen, found some food in the house from our last visit here, about a month ago. I grabbed the magic bullet, something Tony had protested to but Pepper bought it anyway.

I made a blueberry smoothie and made my way down stairs. The old workshop was still white and shiny as usual. I smiled, running my hand along a car. "SOCA, turn on my computer," I requested, walking over to my 3D screens.

They booted up and I set my cup down on the desk, logging into the security cameras. "Keep these up on screen 12," I said, dragging my fingers across the digital image, sliding it across the room to the selected screen.

When I came up with the Heli-Carrier's main frame, I realized it was in the air, but with five less ocupants. Apparently Steve, Bruce, Clint, Natasha and Thor were targeted too. I didn't know where they were. Finally I switched my attention from the inside cameras to the outside cameras.

I saw regular passers-by, but there was always someone in the background on a phone. One man wore a black suit, and I saw a bulge in his jacket beside his arm where a shoulder holster would be.

Then there was a plain man, whom I would have thought to be a citezen if not for the glimpse of a brown gun handle sticking out if his back pocket. I winced at my wound, feeling like it was cracking. I groaned, took a drink of my smoothie and stood, stretching at the points that annoyed me.

I went over the details of the fight. "I shouldn't have dropped my guard. I need to be faster, stronger, more agile, and aware." I bent down, easily touching my toes. "Miss Stark, if I may—you should be resting." "I'm not going to spend the duration of my hiding watching TV, SOCA." I said, bending over backwards and grabbing my ankles.

"I understand," SOCA went silent as I bent to both sides, occasionally yelping in pain. I lifted my shirt and saw the scar. It was cracking, and a few streams of blood ran down my stomach. But what I noticed most was that it was becoming purple.

I went upstairs, draining my cup and grabbed a pack of ice and first aid kit. I held the pack to my scar and wound my waist with bandages, sealing it together tightly. I went up to my room, where my bow, a quiver, and more weapons waited for me in my closet.

I grabbed the bow and went to the target arena that Tony set up for us. It wasn't a huge empty room with targets lining the back wall. It was like a maze, walls and barrels and doorways. It was a shooter's paradise.

Also, it was awesome for paintball fights. "SOCA, activate the dummies," I said. The arena filled with noise, fake gun shots resounding off the wall. A manequinn hanging off the wall swung in front of me and I shot. The arrow gave a muffled thump as it landed in the rice-stuffed dummy.

I spun around too late and got hit by a paintball in the shoulder. It stung, but I ignored it and fired an arrow at it. There was a hole in the middle of each abdomen, from which a spring-fired paintballs shoot.

I was clean of paint when I finished, except for one on my shoulder and another on my thigh. Luckily, I escaped further pain in my abdomen. Breathing hard, I exchanged my bow for my 22 pistol. It wasn't anything I'd use in combat—not powerful enough—but it ws just fine for target practice.

When I retired to the living room, sweating, I slipped my shirt off and tugged a tank top over my head. Running my fingers along the piano keys, I remembered my school and grabbed my laptop from my backpack and snatched a carrot from the fridge. "I'll have to get groceries tomorrow," I said.

I logged into SOS. Even though my dad is rich, doesn't mean I can't use normal school. When I had finished school, I checked my watch. It was eight PM, and I was restless. Grabbing a jump rope, I set to work, keeping time with my breathing. It was exceedingly painful, but I ignored it, trying to prepare myself for the pain that is to be expected with a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

"Miss Stark, you should rest. Your condition will worsen. Perhaps you'd rather entertain yourself with a film?" SOCA asked. "What do you suggest? Cinderella? I'm not that kind of girl," I retorted. "I am well aware, Miss Stark. Perhaps a history or science documentary?" "No, I think I'll watch the news. See if I can catch anything about the rest of the Avengers." I said.

"The rest, Miss?" SOCA asked."Are you an Avenger?" "I...um...no." I shook my head. "Why not?" "Because I'm just an agent. They wouldn't want a girl on their team." I said, flipping to the news channel. "What about Miss. Romanoff?" SOCA pointed out.

"She's not a girl. She's a woman. They'd think of me as another distractio. Someone else they have to look after." I said. The last thing SOCA said before I turned it up was, "But you're not."

I found nothing on the Avengers, so I went to bed, not realky caring that I haven't eaten a full meal for three days. The next morning I grabbed my backpack and put on my leathers. "I'm going shopping, SOCA. lock up for me, will you?"

"Yes Miss Stark." I went down to my Agusta, mounted and drove toward Walmart. I got my food, getting jugs instead of cartons of milk and slowly went back to the mansion. "Whag exilerating excersize will you be comitting yourself to today?" SOCA asked as I put food away.

"I'll punch bags, do pushups, pullups and crunches," I said, blending another smoothie. "You must eat something filling," I glared at the speakers. "I'm really regreting making you," I growled. "Yes, Miss. Stark." SOCA said.

I walked to the gym, which was a cut off room from the target practice. Three bags on tracks from the ceiling hung, waiting for SOCA or JARVIS to activate them. A balance beam and series if bars stood against the wall, along with mats on the shelves and barbells. A treadmill sat to my left, but I prefered running in fresh air.

"ACDC, Miss?" SOCA suggested. "Nah. Turn on 3 Doors Down. I want something a bit softer," I decided, pulling the lever for the bags. They began jostling around, and I jumped in the midst. I punched one out of my way and tossed my leg up to kick the next. Singing along to Citezen/Soldier under my breath, I back handed the third bag and jumped, spun and kicked the next.

As I continued to punch and kick, my abdomen began stinging. Perspiration dripped down my spin and I tossed my shirt to the ground, cooler in my tank top. When I finished, I grabbed a glass of water and picked up my phone. No messages. I wish I knew how Tony and the others were holding up.


	5. Kidnapped

The next morning, I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt that went a bit below my hips. I strapped my gun to my belt and bent down to tie my shoes. "I'm going running, SOCA. 4 miles," I groaned slightly as I felt pain spike up my abdomen.

"I would prefer you doing 2 miles at the most. You are not in the condition for long distance running. You remember how excersizing your core muscles nearly killed you yesterday." SOCA warned. "SOCA, crunches are something you have to get use to. I'm fine," I said, grabbing my iPod.

"Three miles. That's all," I said. "Yes Miss Stark." "Lock up for me," I called as I pulled the door shut. I stretched, loosening my muscles before starting. I found myself holding my breath, trying to ignore the steady throb of pain, and had to remind myself to exhale in rhythm. California was hot, but I prefered this weather. Beautiful trees decorated the side of the trail that I ran on, and I didn't hear my music half the time, due to studying my surroundings. Not for the view, but for tails.

I was pleased to find that I didn't get tired throughout the run, not even breaking a sweat, and my breathing was easy enough to slow. I went a bit farther than three miles, so that I could walk and stretch the last quarter-mile. I took a swig of my water and shook my hair out of my face. Berating myself for not bringing my phone, I wondered if Tony had called.

I swished the water around in my bottle, looking a the ground and using hearing to take in my surroundings. Birds chirped in the trees to my left. I heard a stream running through a tunnel beneath me. And in front of me, I hears footsteps. I looked up and saw a teenage boy, taller than me with his attention on his science magazine.

"You should pay attention to your surroundings," I said quietly. He looked up. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." He stared at me. "Sorry for staring. You just look really familiar," He shook his head and extended his hand. "Peter Parker." "Shiloh Stark." I said. His hand froze in my grasp.

"Hey, you're the photogropher in New York. What are you doing here?" Immediately my suspicion was aroused. "Visiting friends. You don't happen to be related to Tony Stark, do you?" He asked. "Yeah," I muttered, not sure why I was telling him this. I went back into emotionless-agent mode and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Parker." And began to walk on.

I had never socialized with the outside world. I didn't have any interest in guys. I focused on my work and my work only. What in the name of heaven and earth condemed me to talk to him? I didn't think of people as lower than me, just that I had more important things to do.

Suddenly, despite the gun on my hip, I felt insecure and walked a bit faster. Ihad the sinking feeling that he was either following, or watching me closely. I groaned when my stomach informed me that I had pushed myself too much, and wrapped my hand around my waist. I heard the scuffle of his converse and then a clack as a scateboard hit the pavement. The sound went farther away and I relaxed a bit.

Okay, how in the world does one train herself not to be edgy? Oh, blast the confusion! I let myself in and discarded my shoes and threw the plastic bottle in the trash. "How was your run?" SOCA asked. "Just fine," I said. I went down to the workshop and watched the security cameras video feed.

I researched Peter Parker on the Daily Bugle's site, and saw all of the pictures he had sold to the newspaper. Spider-Man, the guy I've heard all and nothing about. "Interesting..." I scrolled through the pictures, wondering how he was always there. "Eh, well," I picked up the phone again and checked my messages.

There was one, but not from Tony.

"Meet at location 772—Fury," I considered the message. The Stark Phone was untraceable and untrackable. I'll take my chances. I slipped into my S.H.I.E.L.D uniform and grabbed my helmet.

I slid on my leather jacket and Had my gun under it. "Lock it down, SOCA," I said. I went to my Agusta and drove toward the meeting place. I looked around as I drove, found no tails, no suspicious persons. When I reached the place, a park, I took off my leathers and locked my bike.

I looked around, but didn't see Fury or the others anywhere. A hand slammed into my mouth. In response, I dug my elbow into the person's solar plexus and spun around, socking him in the jaw. The attacker grabbed my wrists and I threw my leg up, kicking him between the legs. His hold only tightened.

"Hey!" I glanced around and caught a glimpse of brown hair and worried eyes. Peter Parker. I bent and rammed my shoulder into the attacker's chest and spun around. I saw Peter to my left and another man to my right. I heard a hiss and saw a red dart in my arm.

My head went light and my vision went fuzzy before Ifell to the ground and all went black.

* * *

I woke up with an intense head ache, and I was being dragged by the arms along stone. I noticed my gun gone, and the knife in my boot was taken as well. I noticed a dark blotch in my uniform, and felt my stomach was wet. My wound was open and hurt a lot. It really really hurt.

I stayed limp, the drug still in my system, hindering my movements. A stone door opened into the dark, and I was thrown inside. My knees and shoulder took the weight on the stone floor. Grunting, I pulled myself to my feet as the door closed. My eyes adjusted to the dim light and I looked around.

"Shiloh!" I spun around, shot a hand out for balance and wavered, dizzy. I felt two hands on my arms and looked into the concerned eyes of Steve Rogers. "Steve! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed. "Tranq darts," He muttered. "Yeah, me t—." I stopped stooped down and wrapped an arm around my waist.

The next thing I knew, he was leading me over beside the wall and sat down, his arm protectively around my shoulders. "Welcome, my friends," A door opened and I saw Loki and three guards. "I see you're hurt," He looked at me. "No thanks to you, genius," I spat.

"Grab her," Loki said. "Hey wait a minute," Steve demanded. They jerked me up, and I went stone faced, refusing to allow them the pleasure of seeing my pain. Loki smiled. "A fighter. We'll have fun with her," He waved at Steve and shut the door. I was pushed and prodded to a room where I saw a bathtub full of water.

A mask was yanked over my head and someone picked me up. I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut as water engulfed me. I began to struggle at a minute. They held me under as I panicked. Finally I regained control of my body and jerked, surfacing for half a second, enough t get air before I was shoved under again.

I was pulled up, and the mask jerked off. I saw an electric cattle prod in Loki's hand. I was wet. He had electricity. Dear God. I noticed the men holding me backed off as I stooped, coughing up water. "You see, Captain Failure can hear everything from his cell. By making you scream, it breaks him." Loki grinned wickedly.

"How can you be so sure you can make me scream?" I growled, spitting up water. "Because you're a young girl. Weak." Loki shot his hand out and electricity crackled up my body. I bit my tongue. Annoyed that I didn't scream, Loki stepped back. "You really think the Avengers accept you? You're just someone who gets in the way. That wound proves it," He looked at my stomach and pressed the cattle prod to it.

I clamped my teeth together and tensed, electricity coursing through my body. "Join me, instead. The Avengers don't want you, you hear? They don't want you," "If you want to be my friend, I suggest you stop electrocuting me," I advised bitterly.

Loki just pressed the prod to my chest and pushed the button. I reched over and grabbed one of his men, and he screamed in surprise as electricity channeled through me to him. It still hurt me and I groaned.

"That's enough for now. Take her back," Loki said. I could barely stand. My body went numb and a tear leaked out of my eyes. It surprised me. I don't remember the last time I cried. I don't remember ever crying.

I was tossed like a sack of potatoes into the cell. I began to shake, the water chilling me. Steve pulled me close, warming me with his own body heat. "Don't. I'll get you wet and then we'll both be cold," My teeth chattered.

"I was in the ice for seventy years. It'll take a lot more than this for me to get cold." He muttered, pulling his jacket off and draping it over me. "How didn't you scream?" His questioned surprised me. And I was a bit sad, too. Did he expect and think me to be weak? "I can be in pain without having to make noise," I said quietly.

He interrpreted my tone perfectly, unfortunately. "I heard what he said about us—the Avengers—He's wrong, Shiloh." That was all he said before I drifted into uncomfortable sleep.


	6. Torture

When I woke up, Loki and his goons were back for more. "Wait, take me," Steve said, causing me to look at him. "Oh, don't worry Mr. America. We're punishing you enough already," Loki smiled and I saw him flick a finger. His goons came in and dragged me out.

I sent an 'I'll be fine' look at Steve, but I'm pretty sure that did nothing to convince him. I felt heat before we entered the room. I saw the glow of Loki's sceptar in the corner, but when I saw what they were actually going to do to me, I wished he used the sceptar instead. What am I thinking? No I don't!

My brain is muddled...think...think. Something good...focus on something positive. Focus on what would keep me strong. Peter Parker. What?! What the Heck is he doing in my mind. No...Dad. Tony. Iron Man. Steve. Natasha. Clint. Bruce. Thor. Heck, Fury, even.

Oh, no. Now they were strapping my wrists and ankles to the bed. I took a deep breath. They're not going to break me. Nothing they can do will break me. "You're weak. You have nothing. I can give you power," Loki offered in a sckeningly sweet voice. "I don't need power. I have family,"

"Ah, sentiment. You're as bad as my brother." Loki shook his head. "Thor is a hundred times the man you'll ever be," I growled. "Oh, is he?" Loki sneered at me. "Loki, even top-priority criminals are better than you," I spat in his face. "You remind me of Natasha...Romanova? She's an assasain. Are you going to follow in her footsteps and kill people. Cold hearted..."

"If I'm cold hearted, what are you?" I glowered at him. "No, I believe there is no one like me," Loki said. "I agree. I've never looked at someone and wanted to toss my lunch." "Get started." Loki said, looking at his goons. I began to tremble, but stopped myself. Loki studied me.

"No, you've got all of them in you." He said. I watched his goons walk to the fireplace in the corner. "You've got Romanoff's emotionless eyes and features. You've got Barton's loyalty to your _country—_Petty, really—you've got Thor's determination, you've got Rogers' strength, and Stark's sharp tongue. Oh, yes. You'd be a valuable ally." Loli smiled. I wanted to knock his teeth out.

"And I will never join you. Never," I said. I heard scraping as coals were shoved about. Loki snapped his fingers. I closed my eyes and braced myself as two men approached with branding irons. I wondered briefly if Loki had watched the Eragon film —which my former (emphasis on former) friend made me watch—when he walked to the wall and shouted, "Hear her scream!"

I'm sorry to say, this was far too much for me to hold inside. I shouted at first, short, rough sounds that made me feel like I had a cold and a temper. I felt the red hot metal make burns on my arms, and I couldn't help but cringe at the smell of burning flesh. I gnashed my teeth together. I felt them place burns about an inch long along my arm, at least an inch apart.

Groaning, and shouting, I tried not to jerk. But when they moved to my other arm, my body began to convulse. "Stop," Loki called. "Make sure and leave room for next time," He said. I felt tears leave tracks down my dirty face, feeling a bit crusty. My jaw shook from uncontrolled sobs.

"You are worse than any living being on this world or any other! You will never find contentment! Never!" I screamed at him. "I'm content now," Loli clasped his hands. "Are you? Think, Loki. You may be an idiot but you're not stupid. Are you really content?" I seethed. Loki pursed his lips smugly. "I'll get back to you on that,"

My biceps throbbed with pain, my second-degree burns slightly tearing the muscle. I fell limply to the cell floor. I looked up and, in horror, saw Steve's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," He scooped me up gently and set me by the wall. "Maybe the cold of the stone will help with the burns," He suggested. I nodded and pressed my arm to the wall, the icy cold sinkin in. I shivered uncontrollably, but didn't allow myself to cry.

I thought back to my reaction at Steve's face. I guess it scared me. Men usually think that they're not suppossed to cry. That they can't. It scared me because of that. I shook the thoughts away and breathed deeply, despite the cold dankness. When food came, I could hardly stomach it but I knew the importance of eating.

Steve sat beside me, and I knew he was angry. At himself. At Loki. Maybe even at me. I coughed, sending pain up my abdomen. "Just stay strong, Shiloh. I know its hard, but you have to stay strong," Steve said. "I know. I just hope they don't use the sceptar," I said. "I suddenly wish I hadn't learned so much from Natasha and Clint,"

Steve chuckled darkly. "Steve, if they use the sceptar, promise you'll kill me." I whispered. Steve froze. "No." He said. "I can do a lot. I can access Fury's files. I can hack into firewalls, I can shoot and fight. And if he uses me against the rest of you all, I can do more damage than with you," I pleaded. "I'm not killing you," Steve said harshly.

"You'll have to do something," I said, turning my arm. "Shiloh, don't think like that," Steve turned to me. "You and I are getting out of this." He touched my shoulder and I winced. They had torn the sleeves off of my uniform. "Just stay strong," Steve said. "Roger that, Captain," I responded, closing my eyes.

"He was right about one thing," It must have been an hour before Steve broke the silence. "Hmm?" I asked. "You've got a bit of all of us," Steve smiled and I did as well. "Here they come." I murmured, sighing. Steve didn't know what to say. He just squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Strength," He whispered as the door was flung open.

"Who's up for day three?" Loki asked. Three days?! I was dragged to my feet, which weren't severed—yet—by burns.

This time, there were knives and irons." I stared coldly at Loki. "Are you content?" I asked as he strapped me down. "No, you were right, Shiloh Stark. I won't be content until every inch of your body is marked by burns, as well as the rest of the Avengers." He grinned, and my stomach fell to my toes

This time, they decided to unstrap me and chain my arms above my head. My feet dangled four inches off the ground. I felt the irons on my legs and shouted hoarsly. My core began to ache unmercifully, and I screamed. My legs were covered in burns and I was on the edge of conciousness.

Loki smiled at me. One of the goons raised his iron to my stomach. He pressed it to my wound and watched, a grin forming on his hideoud face as the fabric of my uniform parted, burnt black. I screamed loudly, pain exploding in my abdomen. My body convulsed and I jerked against the chains, screaming as tears leaked from my eyes.

"Take her away." one of the goons said. "Excuse me?" Loki stopped him. "Did I authorize you to give orders?" "Uh...no sir," He gulped. Loki too the iron from his grasp and pushed it against his chest. I squeezed my eyes shut. Loki approached with a knife. "Stay away from me," I threatened, my jaw aching.

"Or what?" Loki slid the knife across my flesh and i screamed.

* * *

When I was finally thrown back into the cell, Steve was angry. Until he saw me. Cuts and burns stained my uniform a dark crimson. He scooped me up and held me close to his chest. "Oh, God help," He murmured. I was too weak to respond.

"They'll come looking for us," Steve tried. "N...no. Tha...the point...was tha...that...no one...kn...knew where we went..." I muttered through pain. "Hold on," He whispered. "Hold on." it wasn't ten minutes before the door opened and only the goons apleared.

"Loki's gone. We're gonna have some fun," He looked at me and I glared back.

(not going into details, except for rape, and I'm really sorry for that. I'm having a bit if trouble thinking)

Sobbing, I was returned to the cell, feeling grimy. I sat myself stiffly in the corner, and saw Steve freeze. He knew I would be uncomfortable around him right now, but he knew I needed medical attention. He had also never seen me cry before. I couldn't help it. I was wounded. Physically. Mentally. Morally.

I pressed my arms and legs to the cold wall, hoping they'd feel a bit better. But my strength was failing. So was my health. Steve and I both knew it.


	7. Rescued

A Bit from last chapter—

(My strength was failing. So was my health. Steve and I both knew it)

My breathing became labored, and it was hard for me to keep my eyes open. It must have been hours before Loki came for me. "No. Not again," Steve stood, hands balled into fists.

They knew they couldn't break him physically, so if he came back it'd with steel hard blue eyes. "Steve don't." I pointed to my heart and my eyes.

He turned to me, angry that he could do nothing. If he was turned against the Avengers, one or more of us would die. Starting with me. Steve would die for the rest of us, but no way would he tolerate being brainwashed.

Loki's goons dragged me away. This time there was a syringe. Dear God. I hoped it wasn't a drug. I hoped it wasn't an adictive drug. "This isn't what 'punks' as you people call them, use to kill themselves. It is a neurotoxin, as you would say. It slowly eats the brain away, bit by bit.

"But it takes a while to get there. As it travles slowly through the blood stream, you feel as though you've been tossed in a boiling cauldron," Loki flicked the syringe. Summoning the remainder of my strength, I threw up my leg, and the syringe shattered on the floor.

A goon pulled out a gun and shot before I could blink. I screamed, and at the same time heard Steve yelling. It felt like my leg had been hit by a bus, and then the pain zeroed in. I was only half concsious as they dragged me back.

Steve pulled me to him, shaking in anger. "They're not taking you again," He growled. "Sceptar," I reminded weakly. "I'll take them all down," He said. "No...revenge. We are not the...Vengeance Crew...we're the Avengers..."

"You're right. But they're not taking you again," Steve looked at me when I didn't answer. But I was unable to open my eyes. "Shiloh." Steve squeezed my burned arm. Internally, I screamed in pain.

But I still couldn't open my eyes. Steve yelled my name. "I'm so so sorry, Shiloh," He whispered. He pressed his fingers tomy leg, where the gun shot wound was. My eyes popped open.

"Steve..." I whispered. "What is it?" he asked. "I can't see." "Stay awake." He said. "I...can't." I whispered, unable to speak louder. I thought—maybe I imagined it—but I thought I felt his lips pressed to my forehead before I felt darkness inclose my entire being.

When I woke up, I saw red. And a lot of it. As my vision cleared slightly, I saw Iron Man. Afraid it was a dream, I turned away. "Shiloh!" I felt arms around me, and looked into the face of Thor. "Can't move," I grunted, pain shooting everywhere.

"I'll get her out while you finish up here," I saw something red stuck to the ceiling. I began shaking in fear as I was passed over to this man's arms. Whimpering, I heard him say, "I'm really sorry if this hurts," Suddenly we were flying.

I was placed in a bed and I saw the Avengers running out of a cave. I realized we were in a SHIELD Jet. They crowded around me, and I closed my eyes, scared of my own team. I felt a prick and all went black. Again.

"Shiloh." I was startled awake and looked into the concerned eyes of Tony and Natasha. "You've been asleep for a week," Natasha said. "Week?" I repeated.

"Tony, I told you—she's not doing well with men. She won't. Not for a long time." Natasha said. Tony stalked to the door. "Dad," I said. He turned. "I'm sorry," I said. He was confused before Natasha pushed him out. "Who brought me to the jet?" I asked.

"Spider Man. He found us and led us to you." "Tired..." I whispered. "I know." Natasha left. The last thing I heard before sleep came to me was Steve's voice. "The doctor said if you had taken any longer she would have died."

* * *

Tony walked back to the others and sat down. "How is Lady Stark?" Thor asked. "Not well," Tony sighed. "Guys, listen up." Natasha walked back, arms crossed. "Shiloh is going to be very—very—uncomfortable around any men, including all of you. So, just slow down. And Tony," Natasha turned to him. Her voice was so gentle it surprised all of them.

"I just wanted you to know that she'll probably never be the same again," "Physically?" Tony asked. "She should heal and be just normal physically. But it's internally that I'm talking about. She'll act different, she'll probably strive to make herself better, and she'll always have her guard up. If any o you had hopes for her being a normal teenage girl, it's impossible." Natasha looked tired. She had hardly slept at all the past week, caring for Shiloh.

Clint had never ever seen her so worried. Or exhausted. Steve ran a hand nervously over his face. "She was not just electrocuted, sufocated, burned, cut and shot," Tony winced at every word. "She was...um...raped." Tony and Clint both went red with anger while Thor was a bit confused. Bruce was trying to keep the Other Guy under control.

"Lady Romanoff, what is this r—?" "Don't ask, Thor." Clint suggested. "Very well, Hawk," Thor shrugged. "This is bad. When will she be able to move?" Tony asked. "She needs rest. A lot of it. Food and wated will help too. It'll be a while." They heard clicks and Pepper popped her head in the room. Natasha explained everything.

"She'll be fine. Just keep what I said in mind," Natasha paused. "She may actually be alot more comfortable around Steve, though." Turning, Natasha went back into the room. "Oh, God." She spun around. Clint stood in the doorway. From the neck down, Shiloh was covered in burns and cuts, and the tank top she wore was cut off right below the ribcage for her abdomen.

Clint's eyes flicked to her heart rate monitor, which had only tiny ridges, signifying her obvioud illness. "Clint!" Natasha hissed. "I came to talk to you, but jeez, she's bad." He whispered, eyes angry. "You didn't believe me when I told you?" Natasha crossed her arms. "I was hoping you were exagerating." Clint said, sitting on the bed beside Shiloh.

"You wanted to talk?" Natasha asked. "Oh, yeah. Are you okay? You seem...different." "I'm fine," Natasha said. Shiloh was the only person that she acted...human around. To everyone else she was a cold spy. Nothing more.


	8. Loki

Loki:

Two weeks have passed since I woke up from my coma, or whatever you want to call my week-long slumber. The Avengers, besides Natasha and Tony have left me alone for the most part, and I am able to walk a bit, though I've found it is easier with cruches.

I sat up, still hesitating and wincing from my sore body and grabbed my cruches. I didn't recognize myself when I looked in the mirror anymore. The way my arms and legs were marked, it looked like someone had laid me on a gril.

My eyes were hard and emotionless, besides the pain. Pain of my body. Pain of my mind. My cheeks were gaunt and the skin clung to my cheekbones. I could practically count my ribs, thinner than is healthy.

And my stomach was flat besides the knotted scar that was crimson red from all the mistreatment. I slipped on a soft longsleeved shirt and yoga pants. I set my jaw and walked stiffly out, trying to ignore the pain.

Maria Hill watched me as I walked down the hall, knowing better than to show sympathy. "Shiloh," Bruce said quietly as I walked in the lab. I flinched and looked over at him, until he winced under my hard gaze. "Good Morning, Bruce," I murmured.

"Hi, Shiloh," Tony said cheerfully. I knew he wanted to make me smile. But I hadn't smiled. Not since before I was kidnapped. I wasn't sure if I'd ever smile again. It made me feel like a monster. I was afraid to let people get close.

"Hi Dad," I set down the cruches and walked lightly over to the bench, looking at what they had been doing. "Still no traces of Loki?" I asked. "Nothing yet. But we'll find him." "I know," I stared solemnly at the screen, and felt another pair of eyes on me. Glancing up, I saw Clint below the lab, looking up at us through the window.

I switched my gaze down to the screen. "We'll let you know if you can do anything," Bruce offered when I had started staring into space. "Thank you," I said. It was like I was in a hard shell. I tried to be nice, but everything visible about me said I was blind and heartless. Even my tone was cold.

And I was afraid of the Avengers, though my pride wouldn't allow me any outbursts. I became frustrated that I couldn't work out in my condition, apparently Steve thought I would break like an egg. He was right, though.

"Shiloh," Natasha walked in, turning her green eyes to me. "You're needed at your station." I rose immediately and walked stiffly outside the lab. Every eye followed me as I went to my computer and waited while Crawford filled me in.

"We've got a match. You have to make sure its him and guide the Avengers through the mission. You're the eye in the sky," Crawford said. I nodded. The Avengers passed through the room but I didn't look up at them. I felt Steve pause at the walkway above my monitor and flinched, fingers frozen over the screen.

"Be careful, Captain Rogers," I whispered at last. "Shiloh," He said, and continued walking.

When the Avengers got to the destination, I watched the cameras and looked for Loki. Upon seeing him, I alerted the team. "Okay I see you," I moved to the next camera's feed. "He is to your left, Steve." Steve snuck along the hallway, Natasha behind him. "I see him." "Stop!" Natasha hissed. Steve froze. "What is it?" I asked. "Trip wire."


	9. Spider kid

(trip wire)

I held my breath as Natasha stepped over it carefully and searched for more, refraining from pointing out that they were waisting time. Steve looked up at the camera, right at me before continueing.

"Good," Natasha called. Steve took off running. I quickly switched cameras and watched him sneak up on Loki. "You really think I'm stupid?" Loki turned around, smirking. Four men with uzi's came from the camera's blind spot.

Steve paused until a man slumped to the ground, convulsing from electric shock. Natasha stoo in his place, but not for long. Steve dove at a goon and whopped him over the head with his vibranium shield.

Natasha was working her way to the fourth when I saw a flash of red and he flew up. A white rope-like substance wrapped him to the ceiling.

"Miss me?" I rotated the camera to look around them while Natasha looked curiously at the figure on the wall. Finally I looked at him. His suit, spandex if I were to guess, was blue amd red with silver lines through it. A spider emblem was on his chest.

"Turn around," I said quickly. Steve and Natasha spun. Steve caught the scepter that was flying toward him and tossed it to Natasha. "Where is the girl? Oh, yes. That's right. I nearly killed her. Is she out of the super-hero-business for good?"

"No," Steve growled. "And you'll be lucky if we get you taken care of before she returns to the field," He glowered. "Ooh, touchy subject?" Loli clasped his hands confidently.

"It might be," I saw Steve pass something to the hand behind his back discreetly. I looked closely and my eyes widened. "Natasha, get you and that Spider kid out of there. Steve has he pin to a grenade in his hand," I said.

Natasha looked around and saw no way out. "They're everywhere," I said. Goons with AK-47's lined up at each exit. The Spider Guy tossed a look to the camera, grabbed Natasha and ran upside down off the ceiling out of there.

"Now, Tony." I said. A repulser blast sounded and a hunk of red metal barreled through the crowd. An explosion went off and the screen went blank. "Tony? Steve? Copy?...Dad?" I whispered.

"You think I'd let us die?" Dad's teasing voice came into my ear. "I wasn't sure," I replied, dry and emotionless. "Status," I said. "Thor and Hawkeye have the perimiter. Natasha and Spidey are at the doors. Capcicle and I are on our way out," Tony said.

"Loki?" I demanded. "He's coming out the window!" Clint said. "He's on a flying pod." He reported sourly. "Come back in," Fury said. "Adios," I heard a faint shout and then the Avengers were in the jet. "On our way," Clint reported, and then went silent. I ran my finger up the ridges of scars above my wrist and thought about this 'Spider-Man'. He saved me—well, helped—and Natasha.

He can't be a bad guy, unless he's even smarter than Loki. I realized that I wasn't wearing my SHIELD uniform and pulled at my shirt, looking uncomfortable. Agen Hill noticed. "If you like, take five and I'll watch your station," She whispered. I nodded, stood and walked toward my room.

Once back in my uniform, I reached out to touch my arms, and held back a wince. It was so annoying! I heard a hiss as air tight doors were unlocked and left my room. The aircraft hanger opened to allow the Avengers entrance. There was a flash and then Loki was there. The Avengers, all but Thor began to run, trying to get to Loki. Thor just jumped. "Stop," Loki said calmly.

No one did, needless to say. "I'm just here for the girl." My hand dropped to my gun. "Okay," Iron Man's face plate snapped down and he shot a white beam of energy at Loki. Natasha saw him step aside as though things were rolling in slow motion and ran towards me. "Come on, Shiloh," She said, gun in hand. "No." I said between my teeth. "I'm not afraid." "That is not the objective here. The problem is this: you're injured and he's not. He wants vengeance." Natasha fought not to grab my arM.

I looked over her shoulder and saw Thor swing Mjolnr into Loki, sending him flying. "I do not want vengeance," I whispered. I returned my stone eyes to Natasha. "I won't hide." "Then watch from a safe place." Natasha said. "Fine." I followed her up a ladder and sat in Hawkeye's 'nest', watching, angry that I had to sit like a child and wait for Daddy to get done with 'work'.

I heard gun fire and turned my attention to Fury and Hill. They had their pistols, trying to draw the fight away from the controls. I drew my gun and waited for an opening. Clint ducked away from an energy blast from Loki and I shot. the bullet left a mark on Loki's forehead, but it healed immediately. Loki stepped back toward the landing platform, sending one final blast at Steve before jumping off. A pod picked him up and they vanished.

I climbed down stiffly and watched as the Avengers took a long breath and headed to their rooms to cool off. "Shiloh, you okay?" Tony asked. "I'm fine." I said, sealing the hanger door. "We'll get him Shy. No worries," He patted my shoulder and clomped away to shed his suit.

over the next three weeks, I healed tremendously fast, but only on the outside. My eyes remained hard and I was still uncomfortable around any and every man. "Up for somepractice?" Clint asked quietly. "Okay," I murmured, going to get my bow. I walked three feet away from him, unwilling to get any closer. Clint remained a bit sad, but he'd never show it. But I could see it.

We worked on archery, and I had to practically relearn my aim, which frustrated me beyond belief. "Your scars are becoming less noticeable," Clint was almost whispering. "I know. I think only the scars from the knife are going to remain visable.


	10. Three Months Later

_Three Months after Shiloh and Steve were kidnapped. No sign of Loki since the event in the hanger. Has gone into hiding, apparently. Shiloh has been furiously building herself, which worries the entire team. When asked, she only says, "I'm not letting it happen again"_

* * *

I took a swig from my water bottle and examined my scars. "You're looking better," Natasha said, wiping the back of her neck with a towel. But she wasn't looking at my arms. She was looking in my eyes. "You look lively again," She whispered to herself. I allowed a small smile.

"Clint's coming," Natasha said, tilting her head. I ran to the lockers next to the door and climbed on top of them. Clint swung to door open and I jumped, grabbing his arm and wrPping my leg around one of his own, tripping and pinning him face down on the floor "Morning, Agent Barton," I greeted. He threw back his elbow, clipping me in the ribs and flipping so I was pinned to the floor. "Agent Stark," He smirked and helped me up.

"She's gonna be better than you, Clint," Natasha said, before attacking a punching bag. "Her? Yeah right!" Clint snorted and I punched him in the arm before returning to my bottle of water."Did you go running?" Natasha asked suspiciously. "Kind of. I followed Steve when he went, but he didn't know it." I shrugged. "How far?" "I dunno," I pulled back my hair and braided it.

"Have you seen Stark?" Steve stormed in, pretty angry. "Banner's lab. Why?" Natasha asked. Steve just turned and stalked out, but I caught a glimpse of a piece of paper in his hand. All I saw was the word 'kick' when I rolled my eyes. "Dad's taping signs to people again." I said. "Whoa, look at that one!" I exclaimed, pretending there was one on Clint's back. He twisted around, trying to see. He glared at me, and I smirked and walked away. I heard a small 'twang' and rolled to the side. A dull arrow clattered to the floor.

"Really? How old are you? Don't answer that." I straightened and left the room. "She's gonna kill me!" Clint ran out of the gym screaming. I pressed myself against the wall to avod being trampled. He stopped and laughed. "The only way to get out alive is to pretend you're afraid," He advised. "Are you sure you were pretending?" I teased, continueing to my room to change.

"Why you little—!" "Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff and Agent Stark!" I winced at the loud and commanding voice in my ear. We headed to the briefing room to meet Fury. "We've got a lead—a contact. It took us three hours to discreetly get past the firewall. Loki's been coming to a man by the name of Kevin Lox. He lives in Florida, and we need you three to take care of him."

Fury looked at my bare arms—I was wearing a SHIELD vest like Clint wears—where the scars were only distinct pink marks. "Good luck," He said in dismissal. Clint looked uneasy about me goin but I strode ahead with Natasha to my room. "Wait," Fury called. I soun on my heel and ran back. "Your alliases," He handed me three packets. I gave one to Clint and one to Natasha before taking the other to my room.

"Ms. Jasmine Lark," I read, accustoming myself to the name. "A taste for fashion," Oh, brother. I pulled out the clothes that I best described at 'fashionable'. A makeup bag soon followed, to my dismaye, and heels. "Grew up in India," I said. I began practicing my accent. "Works as a model." "Oh God," I murmured.

I extracted a passport, credit card, and a phone. "Jasmine..." I muttered the name over to myself as I packed my black duffle bag. A brown purse with pink lotus flower on the flap went over my shoulder, and I dressed in a shin length short sleeved red dress and black heels. "Names?" I asked as Clint Natasha and I walked to the jet. "Ariel Crell," Natasha frowned. "Adem Foster," Clint said. He had a white button up shirt with kakis, nothing expensive while Natasha wore a business suit with a black skirt.

Clint slipped on a pair of Aviator shades. "Plan?" I waited. "We are headed to the airport. You take first class, I'm in second and Clint's on a different plane." Natasha began. "There is a driver waiting for you at the next airport, and a car for me as well. Your driver will take you to a hotel and we will get different rooms, with Clint at a different motel." Natasha said.

I read my packet until we got to the air port where I went through customs ahead of the others When I finally got situated on the plane, I looked around casually before starting on a book. Natasha sat behind me a little ways, and I saw no one worthy of suspiscion.

* * *

_Time passes. Get to Florida Airport_

* * *

I stepped off the plane and got my duffel, walked outside and was greeted by a black Rolle Royce. I raised an eyebrow and slipped on some shades before stepping inside. I got on my phone and checked for messages and placed a phony call to my sister to tell her I was here and it was beautiful.

I slung my Lotus purse Over my shoulder and grabbed my duffel. In my Indian accent, I got my reserved room and thanked the woman at the desk. Heels clicking, I walked into the elevator and pushed the fourth floor button. 'Ariel' stood beside me and pushed the second floor button.

My room had plush white carpet with matching white furniture. I walked around the room, saw the taller hotel that Clint was staying in and hung up my clothes. My phone rang and I pressed it to my ear, replying in Indian. The entire conversation on my part was in Indian. "Hello?" "Fury speaking," "Ah, Mom!" I was a bit embarrassed. "Good. There are three video cameras hidden in your room, along with numerous bugs.

"One is in the ceiling fan. The other is hidden in the plant across from the bed. The third is in the door way to the closet. No bugs or cameras are in the bathroom. Copy?" "Ah, yes! It is wonderful here," I nodded, smiling. "Nothing has happened with the others?" "No, I haven't been to the ocean yet," I laughed, and added, "But everything looks good, so I should be able to head out there tomorrow." meaning, 'nothing is going wrong. We should be able to start the mission tomorrow.'

"Good. Keep me posted," I laughed again. "Yes, of course. Bye," I hung up, masking my embarrassment. I changed into a slightly tight knee length grey skirt and ruffled white shirt. My nails had been painted red, and I slipped on heeled sandals and walked through Florida, wandering in and out of random shops. I hated dilly-dallying on a mission, but I had to look like a model tourist.

I bought a sprite at a drug store and walked over to a bench and sat down, enjoying the view. A man sat down beside me. "Adam Foster," He introduced himself. I looked into the guarded eyes of Clint. "Jasmine Lark," I smiled and shook his hand lightly. "How are you liking Florida?" How is your side of the mission?

"It's wonderful. I might spend every vacation here," I said. Everything is fine. No complications.

"Vacations? What do you do for a living?" What is your mission?

"I'm a model. For Victoria's Secret and a few other fashion magazines,"

"Do you know where you'll be next?" Where will you be stationed?

"I'mnot sure. I was supposed to get a message from my assistant this evening," I don't know. Natasha and I are to run over the plan tonight.

"Well, there is a party tonight at a mansion by the ocean. You should come. It is for other models who come here," Kevin will be at said party. It is for models like you and Natasha. Adam stood.

"It was nice meeting you. I wonder if I'll see you again?" I'm glad you came. Getting a little restless.

"How about tonight? South side of the wharf?" Meeting tonight. North side of the wharf.

"It sounds good," I'll be there.

I stood and brushed off my skirt. "Goodbye," I said in my indian accent. I made my way back to the hotel and turned on the bathroom sink and the faucet. Also the fan and shut the door. "Ariel," I said through the phone. "Jasmine?" "Adam set up a date on the south side of the wharf. Meet us there?" "Copy," Natasha said. I shut the phone and stepped into the shower.

I hada white bathrobe on when the hotel phone rang. "Hello?" I asked, Indian taking over English. "Ms. Lark?" "Speaking," I went back to English. "There is a man in the lobby to meet you. He says he is your brother." "Tell him I'll be right down," I stepped into the bathroom to change and called Clint I slipped the. Phone into my pocket where he could hear the entire exchange.

I went diwnstairs, looked around and walked towards a man that waved at me. "Jasmine!" He called. Suspiscion aroused, I smiled and we walked outside the hotel. "Well, Ms. Stark," he hissed in my ear. I paused. "You must take me for some other. I am Jasmine Lark," Isaid. "No, is this you?" a cell phone photo of me tied to a chair appeared in my vision.

"Who are you?" I asked in a panicked atrong Indian accent. "I was sent here. The poor man you've come to kill knows nothing about this." "Kill? Who's getting killed?" I asked. "Only you, tonight," He extracted a glimmering knife and I backed up, ready to kick it out of his hand when an arrow speouted from his chest. "Thank you," I whispered as Clint jumped down from the eaves.

"Good idea with the cell phone. I wish Ariel did that more," He muttered, picking up the lifeless body. "The party—go." he said. I ran inside, curled my hair slightly and applied makeup before slipping into a sleeveless knee length purple dress. The Royce was waiting for me and we arrived at the party shortly.

I saw Ariel at the bar. "Jasmine!" she ran over, being my partner in the modelling. I heard a dark chuckle from my ear piece and knew Clint was watching from a rooftop. "He's seventeen. Too young for me to get anythin out of him," She whispered in my ear and I gigled, masking my boiling nervousness. "There's this really hot guy at the bar. You should go talk to him," I swear I heard Clint choke. I would glare but it'd blow our cover and I wanted to do the exact same thing.

"I thought Adam was going to be here," I tried instead, muttering to myself. "He's a God-forsaken idiot," I used that to punish him instead. "Hey!" Smiling, I sauntered up to the bar, allowing my hips to swing, even though it was embarrassing. I heard Clint whistle playfully. "Shut up," I muttered, leaning against the bar. "Hmm?" I turned, seeing the target, Kevin. "Oh, nothing! I was talking to myself," I smiled.

"Why would you tell yourself to shut up?" Kevin asked, taking me in. "Oh, I was thinking to myself, 'what would Ariel think if I used her money to buy a drink?' and then I was ridden by guilt and told myself to shut up," I gave a slight shrug. "Good save," Clint remarked.

"No need," Kevin chuckled. "I'll buy," "Oh, you couldn't. But if you insist," I walked a bit closer and took the drink. I left a trail down my throat and I twirled my fingers around the glass. "It is so noisy. Can we go somewhere a bit quieter?" I asked.

"Anything, my dear," "Shiloh..." Clint warned. I took his elbow and followed him through a door. Clint couldn't see us. I heard his equiptment and knew he was moving. "Much better,l I said, walking to the blacony and looking at the starry sky.

"I don't suppose you're here to kill me, are you?" I turned around and a knife grazed my throat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said, Indian accent disappearing. I grabbed the railing and tossed my legs up, one strikingthe knife and the other hitting him in the shin.

He threw a jab at my side and I grabbed his arm, twisted and punched his face, feeling his jaw pop. I hooked my foot around his ankle and jerked, tossing him off balance and jabbed three fingers at his solar plexus, making him groan. I did a back fli. As he lunged at me and dropped my shoulder, ducking to the side.

My dress allowed short, quick steps so I went over to him, grabbed his throat and swung around to his back. He pulled a knife out of his boot and spun around, arm raised. The knife hurried toward me before I heard a muffled shot and he crumpled to the ground. "My hero," I said. Clint jumped onto the balcony and smirked at me. It was a shot in the side, so I broke the glass from my cup. I placed the pieces on his chest and thrned back to Clint.

"Are we done?" I asked. "Yeah. No information, but yeah." Natasha came out. "We got some," she said. "Hesterday I was working on his cell phone history. We got enough."

We headed back to pack and then rode to the airport.


	11. New Mexico

I was bothered. I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but that last mission bothered me. Killing him...

"Was it necessary to shoot him?" I asked Clint as we waited for our car. "Necessary? Shiloh, he was coming at you with a knife. A knife!" Clint stared at me. "I could have taken it from him! We could have turned him in our something! Did he have to be killed?" I twiddled my thumbs awkwardly.

"Murdure can only be repayed with death. He killed a citizen in cold blood." Natasha said. "This wasn't cold blood. This was self defense." Clint answered. "Okay," I said, masking my doubt with a satisfied look.

"Hey, how did Spider Man know you? He said some Peter Parker guy told him?" Clint asked. "Oh, I ran into him while I was running before I got...ahem...and then he was there when they took me." I said. "He saved your life," Clint said slyly. "Shut up," I murmured, picking up my bag. "Clint, back off," Natasha chided, getting into the SHIELD car.

"Oh, come on!" Clint protested. "She owes her life to some kid who takes pictures for the Daily Bugle!" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, and if I ever see him again, which is unlikely, I'll thank him. Happy?" I glared at him, and he shrugged. But I continued to wonder.

At The Helicarrier, we went inside to be briefed. I was a bit nervous when the last time I talked to Fury, I called him 'Mom'. "Its a good thing you know Indian, Agent Stark," Fury said, slapping a file down on the table. "Not only has Mr. Lox killed five people, he's Loki's main contact and an illegal drug dealer."

I ignored the smug look from Clint and clasped my hands behindmy back. "Dismissed," Fury said at last. I grabbed my bags and went to change out of my business suit. Back in the comfortable SHIELD outfit, I walked to the gym, waited until Steve was done beating the stuffing out of a punching bag.

"Hey, Steve," I said. "Shiloh! How'd it go?" He asked, hooking up a new bag. "It went okay, got what we needed," I shrugged, inspected my still painted nails and grimaced. "Your Dad wanted to see you, by the way," Steve said. "Thanks," I jogged out of the gym and went to the lab.

"Dad?" I looked around. "Over here." He said. I saw him and Banner bent over a computer screen. "You wanted to see me?" I asked, walking over. "Yeah, we got him." Tony said. Banner slipped his glasses on and ran it again.

"It's him," He confirmed. "Fury knows?" "Not yet," Stark touched his ear. "Hey, Patch. Might want to drop by the lab when you get the chance?" I rolled my eyes and looked at the screen. "What is it?" Clint, Fury and Natasha walked inside and I stepped back to allow them room.

"We've got Loki," Banner reported. "Where?" "New Mexico." "Agent Stark, you're with them," Fury pointed at me and went back to command. I went and loaded my gun, got four extra magazines and waited for the Avengers at the Quinn Jet.

I heard clunking as Tony approached with the others. Natasha walked beside Clint, and Steve fastened his arm to the shield and got onto the Jet. I followed, sighed and tried not to think about the horrors Loki had put me through. "Are you sure you can do this?" Tony asked me. "What happened las time—," "Won't happen again," I inturrupted firmly.

"You remind me of...me." Tony smirked and Natasha rolled her eyes. "Shiloh," Clint called. I got into the passenger seat. "Thor what in the name of Heaven and Earth are you eating?" Tony asked. "A pop-tot," Thor replied. "Tart, Thor. Tart." Tony explained. "Take over." Clint flipped a switch and suddenly I had control. "Gonna kill you," I grunted as I maneuvered the craft through turbulence.

"If you don't kill us all first," Clint joked. "If you're so worried, why'd you give me control in the first place?" I asked, turning the Jet toward the destination. "Because it's better than dying by the scepter." Clint growled. "Sorry," I murmured.

"We're here," I gasped, landing carefully. "Good work." Clint patted my knee and got up, grabbed his bow and quiver. Natasha followed him closely, with Tony and Thor behind him. I quickly unbuckled and stumbled out, a bit dizzy from being so clenched up.

As soon as I got out, though, I dropped my shoulder and rolled to the side to avoid being crushed by a crunched car. I pulled my pistol out and peeked around the corner of a building, pressing my back to the wall. "Hi there," I swear I jumped a foot. I spun around to see Spider Man hanging upside down. "Cut that out!" I hissed fiercly.

"And what the heck are you doin in New Mexico?" I raised an eyebrow. "I was here before you, excuse me!" Spider Man retorted, mock offended.

"Save it," I said, and ran across the street. I ducked behind an alien, the same kind that we met in DC, who were now flooding the street, and shot him in the back of the head. Grabbing his spear, I holstered my gun and stabbed another Alien behind me. I heard a yell and spun around. Spider Man had webbed one's raised spear so I stabbed him in the stomach.

"Thanks," I called, and ran between two buildings. "Natasha," I said, coming up behind her. "Was that Spider Man?" she asked. "Yup," I jumped up, missing a swipe at my legs and stabbed one through the heart. "Where's Loki?" Natasha pointed to Steve, Thor and Tony. "Cap and the other two are cornering him." She replied.

"Where's Hulk?" I asked. "Coming around behind them," Natasha responded, nearly impaled before an arrow sprouted from an attacking alien. Natasha spared a glance for Clint, one that had a bit more emotion than she normally let out. Hmm.


	12. Cornering Loki

I saw Spider Man swing past me and kick an alien in the head, knocking him off his feet. I jabbed the spear into it, watching it disintegrate before moving on.

Watching my whereabouts carefully, I sprinted across the street toward Clint and jammed the butt of the spear into the ground, leapt over an alien and spun around, smacking him over the head.

I matched my heartbeats to my footfalls as I continued to run, picking up speed. Natasha had sheathed her weapon and was now using a spear, just like I was. "Did you thank Spider Man for saving you?" Clint teased as he threw an arrow, lodging it in the back of an alien's neck.

"Which time?" I shouted back, twisting away from a jab at my ribs. I felt the vibrations and heard pounding feet as an alien ran at me from behind, and the alien in front of me running towards me. I jumped up, backflipped and landed behind them to see the collision, both stabbing each other with spears and vanishing.

"You're pretty nimble," Clint remarked, shooting an exploding arrow at a flying pod. "I had the best teacher," I responded, shifting the spear to my left hand and extracting my pistol, shooting at a brown creature.

"Thanks," Clint said. "I was talking about Natasha," I looked over to Loki, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. I heard angry growls and crashes as Hulk smashes aliens left and right. "I've got to get to them," I said, looking around.

"Me too, but now isn't the time." Clint looked behind him. A group of Aliens were forming a circle around us. I twirled the spear, smiled grimly and waited. Clint picked up a fallen spear and shifted it in his hands. They all jumped forward at once.

I wrapped one over the head and used another's speeding momentum to launch me into the air and I dropped, slashing four across the chest. Clint ducked, the jab at him piercing the alien behind him, sending more aliens to disintigration.

"Hurry," I murmured. My arms were beginning to ache, but I ignored it and continued to fight. Soon, I stood panting beside Clint in the midst of fallen spears and a few aliens that weren't killed by the javelin.

I had a long cut down the side of my face—not deep, more like a cat scratch—that was caused by a knife that one alien extracted from somewhere I didn't see.

"Go!" Clint shouted, pulling out his bow again. I ran towards Captain America, dodging aliens as I went. I saw something below my foot right as I heard Spider Man shout "Stop!". There was an explosion and I went flying backwards, feeling lightheaded. I only felt pain in my side when I was grabbed.

Spider Man put me down between two buildings and I reached out to the wall to steady myself. Looking around until it was no longer blurry, I looked down and pressed my hand to my side. There was blood, but not a lot. "Thanks. Again," I laughed slightly. He didn't. "Are you okay?" he asked.

I frowned. "Yeah..." "You just look hurt." He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. I touched my face and winced. "Eh, I'm fine." I pushed the matter away like a fly. "I have to get to my dad." I said. "Where's your dad?" Spider Man asked. I felt a lot like a lost five year old.

"Iron Man." I said, pointing. "Wait—you're Shiloh Stark?" Spider Man asked. "You didn't know that? Seriously?" I was genuinely surprised. "I...uh...no." Spider Man looked down and I walked around him, reaching for a spear. Sprinting past Clint, I junped over a line of ground mines and had almost caught up with Iron Man when I saw a alien in the air flying toward me. I crouched and pointed the spear up, stabbing the alien in the gut. It nearly nocked me off balance, but I kept going.

The Hulk was there, now, and Loki had dropped his scepter. I picked it up. He had no where to go.


	13. New Mission

The Hulk roared angrily, and I had to refrain from joining in. That would be awkward. "Well, you have me," Loki said, truly looking defeted. I decided not to let my guard down again. Clint tossed an alien over his shoulder and I had to dive to the side to avoid getting smooshed.

"Let's go, antlers," Iron Man said, holding his hands out to Loki, ready to blow him in the face if the need arose. Captain America grabbed one of his arms and Thor grabbed the other. "Captain?" I asked. "Shiloh and Hawkeye, I want you in the front, watching for enemies. Hulk, I want you at the back," He pointed, hoping Banner would understand.

"Iron Man, I want you to catch him if he decides to make a move," Captain America jerked Loki toward the Jet, and I saw Clint take the last alien and run to join us. "Where's Black Widow?" he asked, looking around. My heart froze. "Agent Romanoff, do you copy?" Captain asked, pressing his fingers to his ear. "Agent Romanoff!" Clint shouted into his ear piece. He only called her that when he was really really angry, or over concerned, which was not often. At all.

"Shy..." I heard her mumble. "Natasha, shoot your gun," I said, hiding the urgency in my voice. "And I'll come find you." I heard a distant shot and began to run. "Shoot once every minute. Hopefully it won't take that long." I said, mastering my strides, pumping my arms and ducking my head slightly.

I heard another shot and veered to the left. "Hotel..." I ran into the hotel, looking around the lobby. "Second story..." I ran upstairs, the elevator trashed and not working. "Room number." I said. This time I heard her without my comms unit. I ran inside and coughed. The metallic scent of blood washed over me, and I saw her on the bed, sitting up, aiming a gun at my head. "Agent Romanoff," I said firmly. She lowered the weapon and pressed her hand to her stomach.

"I'm hurt," she admitted. "You'll have to hurt later," I said firmly, hating myself for it. "Let's go." I got under her arm, supporting her weight. I had her down the stairs when Clint met us in the lobby. Without a word he had her bridal style in his arms. I took my gun and the sceptar and held them both at the ready.

"Get to the jet!" Captain shouted from the ramp. I ran ahead of Clint, who had Natasha and was keeping up like she was nothing. "Come on," Banner, no longer Hulk, helped us inside. We flew away, leaving New Mexico free of Extra Terrestrials.

I saw Spider Man swing by the window and wave as we lifted from the ground. "Shiloh, status report." Tony demanded. "Gash on the arm, cheek and...um...here."

* * *

we got Loki in solitary confinement and went to report back with Fury. When he finally dismissed us, he called me back. "Director Fury?" I questioned, sitting down. "I am sorry to inconvenience you," Yeah right. "But I have another mission for you." He said. I sat straighter, if possible.

"Dr. Curtis Connors," he dropped a file on the table with a slap. "Main scientist at OsCorp, working on a syrum to heal the owner, Norman OsBorne. He was working on cross species genetics and decided to test it on himself. Connors was aware of the lizard's capability to regrow limbs when wounded, therefore choosing lizard DNA for the process."

I flipped trough the file, and saw pictures of a giant lizard and Spider Man. "And my mission is...?" "Spider Man is working on defeating the results of Connor's work. Connor, who lost an arm, tested the syrum on himself, which turned him into the Lizard." I read the article.

"Spider Man actually already locked him away in jail but Police Chief Stacy was killed." "I'm sorry sir, but I don't quite understand my mission." Fury gave me an exaspersted look. "I want you to bring in Spider Man! I think he would be a powerful addition to the team."

"The team—the Avengers?" I asked, aghast. "Yes. And we will consider adding you to the team as well." Fury said. I leaned forward. "Director Fury, with all due respect, are you bribing me?" I raised an eyebrow. "You might say that, yes." Fury stared at me, emotionless.

"And how do you propose I do this?" I asked. "If I needed to tell you I'd have brought him in myself. But this is your mission." "Good Lord." I picked up the file. "Yes sir," I said, walking back to Tony. "Hey, we can go home for as long as Loki's in the pen," Tony said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "What'd Furious Fury want?" I explained.

"She's gotta go bring in her hero," Clint broke in. "Oh, good God, Clint. Now you put him on Dad's 'Shoot to Kill' list." I Saw Tony glare into space, most likely imagining glaring at Spider Man. Clint shrugged. "Hey, whatever keeps you single." I sneered. "Shut up."


	14. Spider Man

We headed home that night. Fury allowed it for only a day. Day after tomorrow we have to get back on the Helicarrier. I consulted with my brain how to bring Spidey to me in the first place. I could feign an attack on my life? Nah. He'd never trust me.

I could create a Spider Signal? No, too...blech. Sigh. Oh, well. It'll work out somehow. I hope. at Avengers Tower, the team went to their own levels and I went up to the roof—my quiet place. I heard a shout and my head popped up. A streak of red and blue wobbled in front of me, and the figure dropped a few hundred feet.

I jumped up, watching as Spider Man struggled to hold onto his web, ane I noticed his mask was torn off. I saw a flash of brown before hus head rolled and he dropped. Luckily, he landed on the platform/balcony where Tony lands to dissassemble his suit.

I ran down the stairs, hopping three at a time and jumping the last eight feet. I landed lightly on rolled ankles and picked up my sprint. This spider-fellow was out cold, his face pressed to the floor. I saw gashes along his sides, something that looked like they were from small knives. The though of knives sent a chill down my spine.

His suit was slightly scorched and torn, and blood flowed freely from deeper gashes. "Soca, get the first aid kit," I comainded. A minute later, one of Tony's assistant robots handed me the fire engine red box. Still looking at his mangled back, I stuffed a roll of bandages in Spider-Man's belt, hoping he wouldn't wake up screaming.

I poured water in the cuts and he shifted. I blotted the skin to wipe excess water away. Then I poured hydrogen peroxide in them, blotted and layered some ointment on them. Spidey's breath grew ragged and he shifted.

I waited for him to move sonI could get the injuries on his feont. But when he rolled over, I was too shocked to move. And he just stared at me, wondering about my reaction. I felt emotion fall from my face and tended to his injuries. "Peter," I greeted coldly.

"Are you angry?" He asked. "My opinion doesn't matter," I tried. "Yeah right. Helicarrier computer technician, analyst, field agent, avenger and daughter of Tony Stark." Parker snorted. "I'm not an Avenger." I said. "Oh. Just agent," he ammended himself. "No, I'm not angry. Just caught off guard." I clasped the box and stood, helping him up.

"You are actually my mission." I said hesitantly. Peter smirked. "What, does Fury want you to kill me?" "Quite the opposite, actually. Should you choose to accept, he wants you to be an Avenger." I wiped off my jeans amd tucked hair behind my ear.

"Um...wow." Peter stuttered. "Do you need time?" I asked, tilting my head and searching his face. "No, I'll..." He glanced at the huge window leading into the bar and living room. Steve and Tony sat at the couch, watching. I gave him a small smile. "Okay. But I'm not sure how long I can." Peter looked down on New York.

"Might want stitches for that one," I said, pointing to a gash in his side. He shrugged. "Pack up. We have to be on the Jet by ten tomorrow." I turned and entered the living room. When I looked back, he was gone.

"That's the guy who saved you? He's like, fifteen!" Tony protested. I rolled my eyes and though back to what I had seen of him. Height suggested seventeen to eighteen hears old. Younger look in his mischevious eyes that made me want to think seventeen. Also, he goes to Midtown High. For someone who loves science that much, if he were older he'd be moved to a better school.

"Probably seventeen years old." I responded. "What else can you tell me about him?" Tony smirked. I remembered the torn right glove. "He does a lot of writing," I said. "How do you know?" Steve asked. "Small but noticeable bump on the middle finger where the pen or pencil is normally pressed," Clint supplied, walking into the room and sitting on the armchair.

"Ambidextrous," I said, recalling the missing left hand glove. "And that means..." Steve paused. "He can write fluently with both hands. Daredevil, nerd and someone who smiles a lot." I closed my eyes. "How can you tell?" Tony asked. "Mischevious glint in his eyes, intelligence, and happiness as well." I replied. "Maybe he was just happy to be looking at you," Clint teased.

I tossed the first aid kit at him, which he caught."Proud to stand up for what he believes in. He shows it in his posture. And he makes a lot of jokes." I flicked my eyes to the ceiling as I was asked to explain. "His light tone of voice, teasing look in his eyes, and the way he hangs on his webs."

i went up to my room and turned up the music, turned on my lamo and scooted my chair in.


	15. Russia

"_Dang_, you are so freaking lucky," I remarked as we—the Avengers and I (notice I'm not an Avenger yet) walked toward the conference room. "Why?" Peter asked, shifting his small backpack. "'Cause I passed SHIELD bootcamp when I was twelve years old just to be accepted on this ship," I replied.

Peter stared at me. "Bootcamp?" He asked. Clint smirked. I gave him a 'say-something-and-die' look and hen responded, "Yeah. It was for SHIELD, so it was harder than normal boot camp, and I am the youngest agent on board, making it really hard." I typed in the password for my phone and scrolled through my messages.

I put the phone away and sat down at the table. "Loki is in containment but some other targets are not." Fury said, slapping a file down on the table. "Parker, this is your chance to prove that you can carry your own weight around here," I personally thought that was unfair—Spider Man practically carried New York on his shoulders.

Peter considered the yellow file and looked at Fury. "Agents Romanoff, Barton and Stark are going to Russia with Mr. Parker while Tony and Bruce continue analysing the sceptar. Thor is going to help them find the Tesseract." Fury clasped his hands behind his back and turned away.

Clint beat me to the file and I scowled as he slid it across the table to read it. "Ooooo." He tossed it to me after extracting four papers from it. He handed two to Natasha and left the room. I opened it and hid a growl. I grabbed my two papers and passed the file to Peter and stalked away. I swear I'm going to shoot Fury.

I packed my bags and was the first person to be waiting in the hanger. Peter and the others walked in, and he let the master assassins lead the way. Smart choice. I would have, too. "One second I'm Spider Man, the next second I'm a spy." Peter said half heartedly. "Maybe. But you're still on the Avengers." I was sour for two reasons.

First, Fury set me up with a boyfriend, second, a teenager in a skin tight red and blue suit—a total stranger, might I add—was clicked into the Avengers team without batting an eyelash. Here I am, trained for four years and just a spy. I stalked on board and sat down stiffly. Clint spared me a slightly worried look.

"Name," I demanded. "Jonathan Shadow." "Kathy Turnpickle." I said. "Huh?" Peter stared at me. Tony snickered. "I'm kidding. Kathy West." I glanced out the window where Iron Man's gold face plate stared at me. He knew I was a bit upset. "Do you know Russian?" I asked. "Are you kidding me? I barely know French and I studied it for two years!" Peter exclaimed. Sheesh. Amateur.

"Fine. But I'm Russian, so—" "You ARE?!" Peter asked. "Jeez, Peter! Cover story!" I shot him an incredulous look while Natasha stared emotionlessly at me. I knew she was struggling not to laugh by the slight tension around her throat. "Anyway, I'm Russian, so I'll have a bit of an accent but I'll try to make it decipherable." Peter glared at me.

I was underestimating him and I knew it. "We got together a year ago when I met you at school, and we're in Russia on vacation." I made sure he was on the same page. "Your work is just akward." He exclaimed. Close enough. "Its what we do kid. Anything that will get us what we need." Clint said. He glanced back at me. Well, not quite everything.

"You remember everything?" I asked when we got to Russia. "Yes, its tumbling around in my head and it'll never go away." Peter rolled his eyes. "Good." I said. I got out of the plane (they switched from jet to public plane) and we collected our duffels. Mine had computers and iPods that would soon come in handy.

"Be on the look out for bugs." I said quietly to Peter. He nodded, growing accustomed to the idea of being under cover.

* * *

"CRAP!" I exploded when we were in the hotel room. "What?" Peter asked, flinching. I quickly made up an excuse and handed him the iPod. "Mom's looking for me. She should not have noticed I was gone until tomorrow!" The message really said 'unable to breach firewall. Mission changed.' It was from Clint.

"Shoot," Peter commented. He rubbed his chin and gave me a 'what-does-that-mean' look. "I have toget rid of this iPod and my phone and then we have to go see Etana." I smiled and grabbed my purse, tossing the iPod in the trash. I dragged Peter out of the room as he saw wisps of smoke erupt from the trash.

beep.

I looked at my phone. 'They know. Run discreetly'. "Dang." I muttered. "What now?" Peter asked. I shoved him into a ware house and immediately regretted it. Four men with skulls on their breast pockets stared coldly at it. "Don't," I whispered. Peter looked at me, and I prayed he wouldn't betray his mutated side.

We were thrown in a clothes truck. "That wasn't too bad," I remarked, holdin on so I wouldn't be jostled around. "Not too bad?" Peter exclaimed. "We are being kidnapped!" "Did you not hear me say I went to SHIELD bootcamp? Give me that hanger." I took the wire hanger and unwrapped it. Folding the soft metal into something of a lock pick, I crouched in front of the door.

We stopped at what I assumed to be a light and I swung the door open, but held it before it got into sight of the driver's rear view mirrors. "Jump," i hissed. He jumped, and I followed right as the truck started moving. I rolld on the sidewalk to relieve to pressure on my side, feeling concrete scrape my skin. "Great. What now?" Peter asked. "Run that way," I said, pointing the direction of the truck.

"Are you nuts?" He asked. "No, we need to get where they're going." I said. He ran and I went the oposite direction. I ran into a drug store and purchased a few items, then ran around back. I heard pounding footsteps and Peter cane running back. "They're following me," he said, not even panting. "Good," I said. "They want me becaus I'm SHIELD and Tony Stark's daughter. A person can get rich holding a multi billionaire's daughter for randsom."

I was angry at the thought. "So what are you doing?" Peter asked. "Making fake blood," I responded. "Why?" "Weakness," I smiled and heard screeching brakes and winced. "Okay, get me that knife," I said, pointing to the one in my boot. I poured the sticky concotion on it and then all over my side. I fell back on the concrete ground.

"When they come around the corner, drop the knife-so they can see it—and run." I said. "No!" I heard Russian shouts coming closer. "Now!" I hissed. I saw someone's boot and gasped uncontrollably, faking a lot of pain. The knife clattered to the ground and Peter ran.

I heard the leader tell the others to let him go. One man picked me up while another gagged me. I was put back in their truck with two guards. When someone pulled me out, I was carried into a white room, all the while whimpering and screaming quietly

I saw people in white lab coats and then my Russian captor strapped me to a white bed. Oh God. I wasn't expecting this.


	16. Varlaam

"Prepare to be brainwashed," a man said in Russian. Suddenly he was called away. On the table to my right, I saw a syringe with something that looked exactly like blood, but I now knew what it really was. I grabbed it and stabbed it into the cushion of my bed and injected it.

Sliding the needle into my vein, I extracted the exact amout—only a little, thank God—and set it back on the table. I was beginning to have a headache when the man returned. He flicked the syringe and smiled, injecting me with the fake brainwash.

"How long should she be out?" The man asked. "About forty minutes," a new voice came into my hearing and I glanced at the owner before 'falling unconscious'. I had been repeatedly looking at the clock and 'woke up' at forty seven minutes. I looked around blearily.

"Афанасия"

"Afanasia," he said again, this time in English. "Who are you?" I wondered. The man chuckled. It was the second man. (I picture him as Liam Neeson) "I am your father—don't you remember me?" I just stared at him, confused. "I was afraid of this," he sighed.

"Afanasia, Darling, you might have lost some memory?" Ya think?! I panicked, letting him know I was uneasy. "Shh, peace," he murmured. "You will continuethe training you started from before you went into the coma," he kissed me on the forhead and I tried not to wince.

"Yes...Dad," I was pleased with myself. "We will start very soon," he said.

Soon I was blindfolded, and he placed a pistol in my hands. I had it dissassembled in ten seconds flat. "Where did I learn to do that?" I whispered. "I taught you, Afanasia. Every day this is how we started," Dad gave me a smile. "I'll try to remember," I said, downcast.

"Alright," he put the blinfold back on. "Now reassemble it," He said. I took a deep breath and then did as he said. I hate to think it, but maybe the training will come to my advantage. "Now you will spar hand to hand." Dad led me to a ring where four boys were lined up, each a bit older than me.

"Do not kill them, but you may have one knife," Dad said, showing me the array. I licked a long slim one and stepped into the ring. The first bo. Walked in and I jumped. I wrapped my legs around his chest and pinched his neck. In five seconds I had my leg wrapped around his throat, him bent backwards and the tip of the knife pointed up into his back.

"You have improved," Dad praised. The second man stepped in. He was a bit harder, but I've yet to meet anything harder than an alien. He threw a lunch and I caught it, twisted his arm and kicked him in the face. The boy spun out of my grasp and landed a fist in my stomach. I kneed him in the gut and hit him in the neck.

The next two both got harder, and the last actually pressed me to the floor. "Good work, people. We all need to work on our skills, but I am pleased with the progress," Dad led me into another room where I saw girls doing gymnastics and all different manuevers. "Show me if you've still got it," Dad pointed to the first obstacle. It was a plank that was about five inches wide. I recognized it immediately.

I stepped up. I performed two single footed front flips and one backflip. "Very impressive, but you need to work on your balance." Dad said. I was utterly insulted. "Varlaam!" Dad turned. A girl stood in front of us. "Speak," he allowed. "Horse Back riding is extraordinarilly effective for imrpoving balance and stability." She said. "A good idea. Thank you. Afanasia, you will ride bareback and bridleless until I can set up a better method." Varlaam/Dad said.

we went into Russia's beautiful backyard and I noticed a stable, a huge garage and other buildings. Boys and girls rode horses for balance and confidence, something that made me nervous because I had never ridden before. "Come along, then," Varlaam instructed. We went into the stable and I was greeted by many horses.

Varlaam opened a door to reveal a tall slim horse. "This magnificent bay is a Russian Trotter. His name is Anatoly," Varlaam snapped his fingers and the brown horse walked gracefully out. "Grab his mane and swing aboard," Varlaam said. I clutched some thick black mane in my hands and easily swung lightly onto his back.

"Relax, Afanasia. He will mind you better. Let go of him." Varlaam said. I did as he asked. I was sitting at least four feet off the ground on an animal. Not my prefered ride, but I had to play along. Darn, I miss Dad. My real dad. Tony.

soon I was riding what Varlaam called a gallop with my arms out stretched, my back straight and my legs loose. Dang, that was hard. I tumbled right off more than once, but was told to get on again. Anatoly was really a sweet horse, and I grew to like him as the day wore on.

After my balancing lesson, Varlaam showed me one of the big buildings. I threw knives, shot guns and ran five miles. I worked hard at acting confused and clueless besides things that would be imprinted in my brain. Varlaam was beyond satisfied. For the next week, things went exactly like that, and I wondered if I wanted anyone to find me. I don't even know where I am.

I've been sneaking around the compound, trying to learn as much as I can. I did find out that these people were linked to our mission, but I had to return to my room. Anatoly became my excuse to get out of the main house and try to somehow get a good look at the perimiter.

"Today you learn to drive a car," Varlaam said. I knew I was too young but I had to do as he said anyways. He led me to a racing track where an orage car was parked. He put me in the front seat and got in beside me. I secretly figured most of it out but waited for him to tell me.

So then driving cars and motorcycles got shoved into my schedule. The only good thing was that I felt myself becoming faster and swifter. Then one day Varlaam called me to him. It had been three months. "Today you learn your first mission." He said. "Kill Spider Man." He turned around and I saw SpiderMan bound Like a criminal.


	17. Killing Spiderman'

"That guy?" I asked, stalling. "Yes, my beloved daughter, this is Spider Man." Varlaam smiled at the unmasked hero. His eyes widened at me and Varlaam smiled wider when I showed no emotion. I didn't know what I was going to do when I saw an rmpty magazine on the table.

"I'll do whatever you say, Father," I grinned at him and checked the magazine, which was full. "Varlaam, come look at this." Said a man in the corner. Varlaam held a finger up for me to wait. I slid out the full cartridge and loaded the empty one, but nobody besides Peter noticed. "Proceed, Afanasia," Varlaam said, returning to my side.

I cocked the weapon and raised it immediately to Peter's head. Without hesitation I pulled the trigger. It clicked hollowly. I looked at the gun, startled. "Misfire," I said. Varlaam glared at someone behind him and I replaced the magazine's again. "I told you to give me a ready weapon!" He shouted.

I gave Peter a 'get-out-of-here-if-you-want-to-live' look and then handed the gun to one of the guards. He let go of Peter to examine it and Spider Man jumped up. "He's getting away!" I shouted, running after him. "Afanasia, no! Go get him," Varlaam sent a guard after the hero instead. "You don't think I could get him?" I asked, looking dishonered.

"Of course I think you could get him. But I want to see you fix this gun. If you want something done right, do it yourself." He kissed my forehead and gave me the pistol. I pulled put the magazine, emptied and reloaded it, cocked the weapon and fired. "Just in case, though. I'll clean it." I kissed his cheek and then added, "I'll be under the big olive tree outside," He nodded and smiled as Ingrabbed a kit.

There was a table and bench under said tree, and it was my favorite place besides Anatoly. "Do you know who I am?" Someone whispered cautiously. I didn't jump, thanks to my new training. "I do, but I'm not suppossed to." I replied. "What happened?" Peter asked.

"They tried to brainwash me, but I replaced their liquid with my own blood, so I still remember everything. Varlaam was the first person I saw after I 'woke up' amd he claimed to be my father. Then he said I went into a coma and began calling me Afanasia. Now he's been training me."

"We'll get you out," Peter whispered. "Not yet," I said, laying out a towel and disassembling the weapon. "These men have something to do with our mission and I am trying to find it out. I'm not ready yet. They are dangerous. Do not come back." My stomach wrenched as I said it. I hated it here. With no one that I knew, I was likely to go crazy.

"Your dad's not going to like that." Peter said. "My dad doesn't have to like it," I hissed, on the verge of tears. "Tell him...I love him and 17-25. Tell him that: 17-25." I instructed. "Now go. I'm under close surveillance, I'm sure." I hummed to myself, hopefully diversing suspiscion. "I will be back," Peter promised.


	18. Red Room

I finished cleaning the gun and went directly to Anatoly. He was pleased to see me, and I him. I wonder if Tony would let me get a horse? Probably not. "Hello," I whispered, swinging aboard. "Afanasia!" I paused and Varlaam approached. "Did you finish with the gun?" "Yes, Dad." I smiled and nodded.

"Good," he said and handed me a bow. "Practice archery at a gallop. Helps with aim." he explained, and I took it. No king an arrow, I signalled for Anatoly to go. He galloped smoothly and I fixed my posture and raised the bow.

Waiting for the right moment, I let go and missed the target completely. I tried again. Varlaam waited until I hit the target three times before ending my riding. "Good Anatoly," I whispered. I put him back in his stall and returned the bow to Varlaam.

"Shooting and throwing practice," he said, smiling. I aknowledged and ran to the range with a group of people. I shot two guns at once, shot while running, shot while sliding and jumping, it was all pretty hard but Possible.

Two weeks passed and I found out that our main target was on the grounds and was about to deliver a briefcase bomb to 'a worried billionaire' in New York. I panicked, but didn't allow myself to leave. Not until I could shut the place down. I dined with Varlaam everynight, and grew closer to him, gaining his trust.

"My dear girl," Varlaam said, an arm around me. "You are ready for the ultimate test." I have to admit I was excited. "I'm ready?" I asked, keeping my emotions under control. "Yes, Afanasia. You have done splendid, and now I want you to follow me." He stood and led the way out of the room.

I was in a lab, but there was high tech equiptment. Oh, heck. It looked like an updated version of where Steve Rogers went. I looked at the pictures and saw it. He came out of there looking like he had been working out for eight years.

"We are creating a series of advanced human beings," Varlaam said excitedly. "I want you to be one of them." I was scared. Terrified. Doubtful. "What does it do?" "You will not regret it." Varlaam promised. "I trust you," I lied. "I will do it." My entire body told me not to. "It is your birthday present," Varlaam said. My real birthday was tomorrow. how did he know that?

"Knowing you, it will be the best." I kissed him on the cheek. Yeah-freaking-right. I wanted so badly to tell him no. I wanted to say that I despise him with all that I was worth. I wanted to shout that I was an Avenger and daughter of the greatest man on earth. But I knew that the more I did as Varlaam asked, the more I would gain his trust and hopefully save America from another global catastrophy.

My best hope was to cooperate. "Are you scared, love?" Varlaam asked. "No, Father. Fear is a weakness." I replied, pulling off my shirt to reveal my tank top. "That is my girl." Varlaam stepped back, enough that the nurses were satisfied yet close enough that I could see the hard, emotionless look on his face as I lay back on the table.

(I'm just going to copy Captain America because I have no idea how else they would do it) My arms were strapped down as were my legs and I saw vials being drained of their liquids. "Up it," I heard someone. "Yes sir. Too much will kill her." "Keep her alive," Varlaam said.

I began to feel tipsy as the bed/table I was strapped to was stood upright on mechanical arms and rolled backwards into a chamber. It pressurized as the door closed, and I still faintly heard people talking. I had never been clausterphobic, but now I was scared to death. All I can think is I'm going to come out mangled and ghastly like the Hulk or the Lizard.

No offence to my favorite scientist, Bruce Banner. "Initiating," I heard an almost indistinct command and the chamber filled with a scentless fog. Maybe it was just steam. I seemed to be in there for hours, and I finally told my brain to shut upbecause for some reason it thought I couldn't breathe.

When I came out, my head lolled drowsily and I fell forward. I felt an arm around my waist and looked up into the pleased eyes of Varlaam. "How do you feel, Afanasia?" He asked. "Healthy." I mumbled. "Good," He nodded. "Get her food and water." A doctor commanded. My thighs felt tight like when you run quickly up anhuge flight of stairs.

My arms were harder and my stomach was chisled and hard to the touch. I felt absolutely, totally and utterly wrong. This was not natural and I didn't like it. I had been turned into a female super soldier. Thank God I didn't look as muscled as Steve, and it wasn't too noticeable, but it was there.

I don't think I grew taller, which I liked. That would've been unhealthy. "Dad," I said. "Next time, no ibuprofen before hand," I said, remembering my head ache. "Of course," He chuckled and led me back into the room we had been in before. We had been eating dinner, but I wasn't hungry.

"I want to go to Anatoly," I said. "You must sleep. You have twenty minutes," Varlaam said. I had trained hard the past few months. Now I was altered unnaturally. I want to go home so badly. I hate, no, loathe it here. But I have a feeling my training will come in handy soon. Nikolai, the man with the brief case bomb was to leave tomorrow. I have to stop him.


	19. Home at Last

**That whole months of training and then the injection thingy is how I pictured the Red Room in my mind, a version of it anyway. I tried to read up on it but I couldn't find anything real descriptive so I had to make it up. Sorry if this isn't anything like it. :-/**

"Now we will work on something new," Varlaam said to a table of his 'students/trainees'. "You are going to learn how to create bombs that look like batteries. When placed in whatever device they are needed for and turned on, they are activated and blow up. (Not sure if these are real) and then later smoke bombs and other things of the same classification."

Varlaam and other cold-eyed teachers instructed us and soon I was memorizing these. They would come in handy with destroying this compound. But I had to do it in a way that would keep suspicion off me. Like, for instance, blowing up my own room. Sabotaging poor Anatoly's stall.

"You can make bettery/bombs the size of watch batteries to car batteries, but the bigger the size the bigger the bang." Varlaam said A tiny explosion occured in the other side of the room. "Aleksey!" Varlaam chided. "Steady hands will keep you alive. You are a klutz, you die." He glared at the teenager.

I already had one person to pin the blame on. "Very good. Take these thigs to your room and practice making them tonight. They will come in handy with your missions." Varlaam said. He winked at me. "You are the first person to have been injected with that enhancement this year," he told me quietly.

"Your abilities are astounding," He smiled and watched me assemble another battery bomb. "Next—grenades!" Varlaam clasped his hands behind his back.

* * *

(Midnight)

I snuck outside, four triple A battery bombs in my pockets. I got into Nikolai's room and looked around. Spotting the flashlight on his desk, I moved forward. I had already turned off the breaker box controls. I glanced down as I replaced the batteries in the flashlight.

I saw something by my foot. It was a book. I picked it up, glad I had gloves on. I flipped to a picture. A red X was through it. Another picture—Gwen Stacy—red X. All these pictures had red X's through them. The last series of pictures made my anger burn. Tony Stark. Natasha Romanoff. Clint Barton. Nick Fury. The Avengers. None of them had X's.

these were the people he had killed. I walked to the doorway, knocked the coat tree to the ground and slammed the door. I heard Nikolai fumble with the lamp and then I heard an explosion. I feel no regrets. I ran to Varlaam's room. "Dad!" I called. "Fire, fire!" He jumped up. "Afanasia, are you alright?" He asked. "Yes, I'm fine, Dad there's a fire!" He followed me to Nikolai's room and scowled.

"I saw it out my window, Dad," I stared coldly at the flames, just like he did. People ran to put it out but he spun away. My grin safely concealed, I followed him and then went in my room. My next target was the training building. Then my room. Then the car garage. Then the stable, but I'll bethere to let the horses out.

over the next few days, I had destroyed my room and a couple other important buildings as well as the vehicles. People were really riled up now. Varlaam put together a team and assigned me leader. We got in a plane with sky diving equiptment. I was a bit nervous but I had an idea of how to take care of this situation. I was just glad I was going home.

"All of you come with me. We'll do better with people and not engines," I said, getting ready to jump. I landed on the top of the Helicarrier, and grabbed onto one of the planes. It was strapped down and I was getting my balance. But then the Avengers met us on the deck. Good. We were airborne, so it was a bit difficult but I managed.

I pulled out my gun. I looked at my team. One guy had his gun aimed at Clint's head. I quickly shot Clint in the chest and he went down. Thank God he wore Kevlar. I pressed my hand to my ear. "Tango, Delta, I'll go around behind. You guys Watch my back," I instructed. I spun around, though, and shot Delta.

"What the—?!" Tango shouted and I shot him, too. Iron Man clomped up behind me and I saw Bravo raise his gun at Natasha. I aimed at him, but a shot was fired and he dropped. I saw Clint on his knees.

When my whole team was no longer on the Heli-Carrier, more like in the ocean below, we went inside. "Shiloh, five months is far too long," Tony said as soon as he was out of his suit. Then he wrapped me in a very un-Tony-like hug. "Dang, you nearly killed me," Clint coughed, holding his hand to his chest. "I saved your life, thank you very much," I joked, smiling.

"What happened? Tell us from the Very beginning," Steve instructed. I spared a glance for Peter, who watched me intently. "If Fury wants to hear it then I'm only going to say it once." I said, shaking my head. "Conference room, then?" Natasha asked. I nodded. "Sorry, by the way, Clint," I apologized, grimacing. "I'm glad you did it," Clint said, elbowing me.

"Lucky Fury assigns Kevlar." Natasha snorted. "He saved your life," I reminded her. "Hardly," Natasha retorted. Clint looked slightly hurt. "How are you, Sunshine?" Tony asked, throwing an arm around me. "Healthy, happy and fluent in Russian," I said, earning a few quiet chuckles.

"Agent Stark," Fury was quick to hid his surprise. "Director Fury," I greeted. "You have something to tell me?" He asked. "I was about to tell them what happened to me." I said. "That's what I want to hear." Fury said. Everyone sat down at the table except for Fury and Hill. I sighed, sinking into a chair.

"You sent the four of us to Russia on a mission," I began. "As soon as Peter and I got into the hotel, Clint sent me a message saying they were unable to get past the firewall and that the mission was changed. I led Peter outside, looking for the hotel Natasha was staying in.

"I recieved another message saying they knew we were here and that we had to get out of there." So I pushed Peter into a ware house to try and contact Natasha but we were confronted by four men wearing skull emblems on their breast pockets." I saw Steve freeze.

"They over powered us quickly—I was caught off guard—and threw us in the back of a clothing van. I used a coat hanger and picked the lock and we got out. Then it occured to me that the men could have been part of the mission. So I sent Peter to attract their attention while I made faux blood.

"He came back saying that they were following him so I poured the blood on the knife and then on my side. I told Peter to drop the knife when he men came around the corner and run. He didn't want to but the men appeared, leaving him no choice. I figured if I was injured then it'd be easier for me to get in there without a fight.

"I wasn't expecting what happened next. They lay me on a bed in a huge white room. I don't know where, exactly. A new man said he was going to brainwash me, and then someone called him away. The liquid in the syringe looked exactly like blood so I injected it into the mattress and extracted the same amount of my own blood and put the syringe back on the table.

"He injected it into me when he came back, so I still remembered everything, but I pretended I didn't. I heard someone say that I should be out for forth minutes so I stayed there for forty seven. When I opened my eyes someone came up to me and said he was my father," I recounted what happened.

"And then one day Varlaam called me into his room and told me he wanted to make a new series of better human beings." Steve waited tensly. "Steve, it looked like an updated version of the room you were taken to." i shuddered. After explaining everything until present, I held my breath.

"Well, Miss Stark, you have been through quite an ordeal," Thor commented. I gave hi. A half smile. "Looks you paid Spidey back for all the times he saved you," Clint grinned boyishly. "Shut up, Clint," I groaned. "That guy claimed to be your dad?! What an—" "MR. Stark," Fury inturrupted Tony.

"Something wrong, Nat?" Clint asked quietly. She was staring down at the table, a similar expression to Steve's. "They did that to me, too. I wish I had been that smart." She said. Steve and I looked up sharply. "They?" "The Red Room." She responded.


	20. Celebration

"You deserve a break," Fury sighed. He gave everyone leave, and I was immensly relieved. We all flew to Avengers Tower, and I immediately crashed.

* * *

"Psst! Shiloh, come 'ere!" I looked up from my book to see Clint in my doorway. "What is it?" I asked. "Shh! Come on!" He beckoned to me and I stood, following him. I saw Natasha outside the door. "You've got to hear this," She grabbed my arm and took off down the hall.

We stopped in front of the door to Pepper's office. "Listen," Natasha and Clint snickered and pressd their ears to the door. I crouched down.

_Tony: ...You've been there for me for years..._

_Pepper: Five years_

_Tony: (Ignores) I never realized how much I appreciated your help until Shiloh disappeared. _

_Pepper: Um...Tony...?_

_Tony: I realized that I love you. _

_Pepper: (Gasp)_

_Tony: Will you marry me?_

_Pepper: (Sigh) Tony...yes. Yes I will._

Clint and Natasha were shocked. They obviously didn't expect that.

I backed away. "Shy, you okay?" Clint whispered. I heard footsteps and we all junped away from the door and got into the nearest elevator. "Are you not happy with this or something?" Clint asked. I burst out giggling. Out of no where. Completely sudden. "What the..." Natasha and Clint spun around to see Steve leaning against the back of the elevator, flipping through a magazine.

I couldn't stop my hysterical giggles. No one had ever seen me like this, judging by their looks. A smile broke out on Clint's face. Steve looked like he was going to join my twelve year old happy spree after Natasha explained. "That...(gasp) was...(gasp)...so weird." I bent over, catching my breath.

"Wait a minute, my dad's getting married." My sudden 'duh' moment caused Clint to finally laugh. "Tony's doing what now?" Steve obviously didn't catch the part where Pepper said yes. "Oh, never saw that coming," he exclaimed.

"If everyone would go to the kitchen, I have something to say," Tony's voice came through the intercom. Clint nudged me and I steeled my face. We sat down at thetable and waited. Everyone else came in, Tony's arm around Pepper's waist. That part was normal.

Peter sat down awkwardly, still getting used to sitting in his idol's house. "I have asked Pepper to marry me, and she has said yes." I coughed, covering a choked laugh. Brice looked like someone had killed Albert Einstein right in front of him. Natasha was struggling to look like she hadn't seen i coming, same as Clint.

Thor just grinned like it was totally normal for someone to come barging one night at dinner and say, "My personal assistant and I are getting married!" Steve smiled. I covered my ears right as 'congratulations' ricochetted off the walls.

"One more thing:" Tony silenced everyone. "There will be a gala in her honor. You all have to attend." He smiled uncharacteristically (it really looked like a genuine smile) and walked away with Pepper. "Tomorrow," he added over his shoulder. "Gonna faint," I gasped, falling out of my chair.

Thor suddenly boomed with laughter, pointing at me. "BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!" "Shut up, Thor!" Clint shouted and grabbed my hand. I was lifted limply and placed on the table. "Get her!" Thor shouted. Suddenly eight hands were tickling me all at once. "St—hahaha—stop—heeeheee—Peter Parker—hehehehe—Natasha Romanoff, Clint—goo heeheehee—Barton and Thor Odenson before I personally—gah hahahaha—saw of your limbs!"

* * *

(Time jump—next night)

I came to the middle level huge room at six o'clock. Inwore a floor length peach colored dress with silver straps. It hugged my waist a bit, fitting me perfectly. My hair was slightly curled and fell a bit past my shoulders. I saw my fellow Avengers, Natasha wore a green floor length dress while the rest of them wore tuxes.

I stood by the table and watched people converse and dance to surprisingly slow songs. Natasha stood off to the other side of the room and I noticed i was as tall as she. I didn't notcie, however, Clint's approach. "May I have this dance?" He teased. I took his hand.

"I didn't think you were the dancing type, Barton," I said quietly. "I asked for three reasons—one, Tony said if I didn't dance at least once he'd evict me, two—Natasha'd beat the crap outta me if I asked her—and three, I actually know you," He had a point—even I didn't know three quarters of the people here.

"You're very pretty tonight," He complimented. I smiled softly. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," He smirked. "I knew that already," he teased. "You're so full of yourself," I smiled. When the song was over, I went back to stand in the back and he followed.

"What happened to that courage?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Huh?" "Go get her, Hawkeye," I waved him away and he glared at me playfully, but went over to Natasha anyway. Peter asked me to dance, forty seconds later. (The slow dance Tony and Pepper danced in Iron Man 1)

"Watch them," I whispered. He looked over my shoulder and we turned so I could see. Clint had actually persuaded Natasha to dance. or she was willing. She looked completely at ease. I commented on that. "Huh," Peter shook his head slightly in disbelief. "Never thought that would happen," I said.

"Did Dad threaten you with an eviction notice, too?" I asked. Peter laughed. "No, he only threatened Clint and Steve," I nodded. "Not Bruce?" "I think he disn't want anything bad to happen tonight," Peter whispered. I glared at Tony. "oh, really?" As if feeling my glare, Tony smirked a me.

"Thank you for the dance," I said, sliding my hand out of Peter's as the song ended. I saw white aproned chef's beginning to set the table. I looked around for Thor. He was dancing with, to my surprise, Jane Foster. I saw Peter walk over and begin dancing with Darcy Lewis. Something clenched in my stomach. Huh. Weird.

While i was mulling over this, I slrealized that Steve was nos standing beside me. He looked nervous. He turned to me, hesitant. "I know about the eviction thing, its okay," I smiled and he looked at me allreciatively. I took his hand and again walked over to the dance floor.

Tony had arranged seating. Peter to my left, Tony to my right. Steve sat across from me, and Clint and Natasha were beside each other. Gee, I wonder why Dad did that? Evil matchmaker. While we ate, Thor conversed quietly with Jane, and it made me smile softly.

I was really happy for my dad. No lie. I love Pepper. Seems he does, too.


	21. LONGEST CHAPTER YET!

"So when are you getting hitched?" Clint asked, grabbing a mug. Pepper and I poured over a Brides magazine, despite my hatred of dresses. "Next week." "Next WEEK?!" Clint was aghast. "One—this is Tony. Two—you guys are Avengers, and we'll be lucky if we can do this before Fury calls you in again.

"Good point," Clint shrugged. "Decided on anyhing yet?" Natasha froze in the doorway when she saw Clint, but then continued walking inside. She was helping me test bridesmaid dresses. She wore a knee length blue dress with two inch wide shoulder straps.

Clint leaned back against the counter and smirked at her. "Never thought I'd see this, Nat." She held up her fist. "You didn't, Barton." She growled. "We'll go with that one," Pepper said. I nodded. "Looks great," I said. I grabbed Natasha's arm and led her back to Pepper's room to change.

"No need to snap at him, Natasha," I said, unzipping her dress. Natasha said nothing. "Thanks for your help," I said, leaving her to slip out of it. I tossed Clint a glare as I made my way back to Pepper. "We've got the brides maids covered—Natasha, me, Jane and Darcy," I said. I heard arguing as Tony entered.

"NO! THOR! The Best Man does NOT marry the bride!" Tony shouted. "Thor's gonna be your best man?" I asked. "No, Banner is." Tony glared at the perplexed Asghardian. "And the Groomsmen?" I asked. "Clint, Peter, Thor, Steve." Thor gave a boyish grin at his own name. Clint just banged his head on the table. "CLINT! OH. MY. GOSH. THAT IS ANNOYING. CUT THAT OUT!" Tony screamed.

"Tony Tony!" Pepper tried to get his attention. I ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "Dad. Settle. Down." I led him to the table and got him a coffee. "Not the best drink for a stir crazy man," Clint commented, rubbing the red mark on his forehead. "Betterthan liqour," I whispered as I passed him.

"Tony, what do you think? White and black? All black? All white?" Pepper asked, showing him tuxedoes. "Black and white." He said, running a hand theough his hair. "Okay, Shy, give me a hand here." Pepper said. "I can't decide which gown I want," She said.

"That one," I said. I pointed at a sleeveless white dress with a full, Beauty and the Beast ruffled skirt. It was white, though. Not yellow. "Perfect. Now we need flowers, music, food..." Pepper stressed. "Oh, God Pepper!" Tony said. "Have Jane and Darcy help you! You can't do something like this by yourself."

Pepper looked at him, exasperated. "Okay." I ran to get the women and left the three men with Pepper.

We finally got it planned. Everything was covered. Flowers, food, clothes, guests, music, times, it was all ready. Oh, and by the way, the wedding was day after tomorrow. Talk about rushing! Thanks, Dad. Glad you're enthusiastic, but...

Darcy's little sister, who is twelve, will be the flower girl, and Pepper had fallen for the girl's cute smile immediately. But something looked off to me. Maybe it was just paranoia. Anyway, decorators and last minute planners are running around the lower levels, and the Avengers are lounging nervously upstairs.

I was modifying Natasha's dress—it was a bit too long—and listening to her mumble about frilly dresses being a waste of time. "You don't seem too nervous," Natasha commented. "I guess I'm just too happy with how things are working out."

Something deep inside told me I was lying. To Natasha and to myself. "That's not the truth." Natasha contridicted. "I don't know what is, though." I whispered. "Natasha, if anyone can help me, its you." I looked up at her, and saw that the spy had put on a curious look.

"What does that mean?" She asked. "Ever since the...enhancement injection...I've been feeling low. I don't know how to explain it." I said, standing back. "Are you done?" She asked. I nodded and began unzipping the dress.

"I know how you feel. You've been more without emotion and you feel like a monster because of it?" Natasha guessed. "That's right," I said slowly. "But I do smile. I get happy. I laugh. Will it ever change?" "Only if you want it to. You are the only person in control of your body. They may have made you stronger, faster, more flexible, but they can't change you." Natasha poked a firm finger at my heart.

"You are what matters," She said, and Slipped into her other clothes. "Thank you for listening," I said weakly. "As long as you're not Clint. He complains and complains and complains all. Day. Long." Natasha rolled her eyes and I laughed. "He does it to get on your nerves, you know." I didn't stick around to hear the answer.

"Hey, Shiloh. Didja hear the news?" Peter asked, walking in with a laptop. "Which news?" I asked, collapsing on my two person leather couch. "And why didn't you knock? This is my room!" "I didn't think you'd mind." Peter plopped down beside me. "Anyway, the news: I have to go througj training after all."

I smirked triumphantly at him. "And it seems you'll be accompanying me." The smirk died on my lips and found life on his. "What is that suppossed to mean?" I asked. "Apparently, Fury's people have created a SHIELD school, under his orders."

"Bloody Hell." "Are you British, now?" Peter asked. "Bug, Ican be British, Russian, German, African, Korean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese or Arabian before you can say—"

"Labratory."

Huh? I spun around and realized the voice came from an intercom. "Stark to lab, Stark to lab." I glared at thespeaker. "Idiot." I muttered at JARVIS. "Excuse me, ARACHNID, but I have a computer to crash." I went to the elevator and stepped inside.

"Dad, what was that suppossed to mean—Dad?" I heard a hiss and spun around. Dad's cases of Iron Man suits sat peacefully against the wall. But his latest one was missing. "Dad..." I groaned. I heard his suit power up and I ducked out of the way as a blast scorched the wall right where I was.

"Just checking your reflexes, Sunshine," Tony's suit clomped against the cement floor as he walked out of the shadows. I smacked my hand against his suit and glared at his smug smirk. "Labratory?" I demanded. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you if you go British," Tony said. I sighed. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked. "Thank you," Tony walked by me. "JARVIS," he called. I looked around as another mechanical purr resounded against the walls.

"I just wanted you down here so I could show you MY LATEST MASTERPIECE!" I held my hands to my ears. "Dad!" I shouted. "Tone it down!" "Fine." Tony sighed and led me over to a platform of metal. "Stand right there with your arms out," Tony instructed. I did as he asked and glowered while he walked in front of me and inspected me. "Yes, that enhancement did change your structure a bit, but not too much. A little muscle never hurt anyone," He commented.

"Any time now, J Man," no response. "I was talking to you, JARVIS." "Of course, sir." JARVIS answered. Plates of metal disappeared around my feet. "What the..." Metal pieces began covering my body. Dad, I'm gonna kill you. Next time, warn me!" I shouted as a face plate came down.

Light came on and as I looked around, digital computers told me everything about what I was looking at. "You have SOCA in there;" Tony informed me, walking around. "I left it silver so you could chose the color," Tony said, walking around. "Bugatti Veyron blue," I said, pointing to one of his cars. "Any silver left in there?" Tony asked. "Yeah. Same pattern as yours," I said, inspecting myself.

The Arc Reactor was there in a triangle shape, just like one of Tony's. "Want a test flight?" Tony asked. I could hear his smirk. "Oh yeah." I was warming up to it. "This is awesome," I exclaimed, activating the suit. I took a minute to get used to my flying position, and then took off out side. I shook a lot, and did a few spins.

"How's it feel?" Tony asked. "So Dad," I began as we flew side by side. "Did you hear about the SHIELD school?" I asked. "Yeah. Pepper told me yesterday that I'm actually funding it." Tony sounded sour. "Peter told me today we're both attending," I said, equally bitter.

"I'm sure you'll ace everything," "Dad, this suit is so cool. Thanks a lot." I smiled. He dropped his suit at least a hundred feet, free falling. I followed, twisting and spinning the entire way. "Got a name?" Tony asked. "Yeah," I said. "I kind of like Iron Eagle. For two reasons. First, after you, second, because of Clint, and it goes with the suit's flight. So there you have it."

"And that's all she wrote." Tony said, landing on the landing platform. "Your's is going down there," Tony said, pointing to the big balcony on my level. "Okay. SOCA will help me today," I said, flying down to the lab. "Activate the paint job, too," Tony said as JARVIS disassembled his suit.

"Got it," I said, I flew down to nearly the bottom floor and flew through the runway tunnel. After SOCA took off the suit, I found the painting pattern of Iron Man and set it to the right color. "Estimated time: four hours." SOCA reported. (It was five with iron Man's suit, and four with her's because its a bit smaller) "get to work," I said, walking upstairs.

"Where—Shiloh—Was that YOU?!" Peter ran to catch up with me. "Was what me?" I gave him a confused look. "Tony was flying with someone in a silver suit," Peter demanded. "Yeah, that was me." I nodded and then I realized I had walked into a room with everyone. EVERYONE. the Avengers, Darcy, Jane, Pepper, Fury and Hill.

"Seems you have a suit," Fury stated the obvious. "Compliments of my father," I replied, standing up straight to face my boss. "Looks like we have to make you an Avenger," Fury continued. "Congratulations," He shook my hand and turned away. "You people are to be back on the HC in one week. Have a nice wedding," He nodded to Pepper and left with Agent Hill.

"What have you chosen for a name?" Natasha and Clint looked at me expectantly. "Iron Eagle." Clint pounded his fist. "Yes!" Natasha shrugged. "Sorry. It went with the suit," I said to her. "Calm that idiot down!" Tony shouted. Clint was dancing on the floor.

"Clint. Clint! CLINT!" I kicked his shin. Now he was doing a pain dance on the floor. "Get off the floor you idiot!" Natasha shouted down at him. "Leave him there." I said, walking away. "Where's Peter?" Bruce asked, walking through with a pencil.

"I am not sure," I shrugged and looked behind me, where Peter used to be. "I'll be upstairs," I said to Steve and Thor, the only people left in the room. They nodded and continued talking about the best way to eliminate the 'Hydra Weapon' of the 'Tesseract'. Two worlds, two languages, I suppose.

I got in to the elevator and then took the stairs up to the roof. I was looking at the pink evening sky when I noticed Peter sitting on the edge. "Banner was looking for you," I said. Peter nodded, not at all surprised when I spoke out of no where.

"Come here. You have to do this, too," He said, typing something on an iPad. "What is 'this'?" I asked, sitting beside him. My legs dangled out over the streets, and tha was an unnerving sight. "Filling out paper work for SHIELD school." Peter said. He clicked 'Submit' and handed the pad to me.

I started a new page and began filling out the forms. "Do you have family?" I asked, typing in my grade. "My parents disappeared when I was young. Then I learned they died in a plane wreck. My uncle was killed and my aunt died of leukemia last year." Peter said quietly. "Oh, God I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have asked." I apologized, looking up.

Peter shrugged. "I would rather talk about it than avoid it my whole life. Hey, Tony adopted you, didn't he?" That was beating around the bush talk for 'what happened to your parents?' "Yeah. My dad was a scientist, and my mom was an herbalist. One day they were working together on something. That something glitched and they died in an explosion." I clicked Submit a minute later and leaned back to put the pad on the gravel of the roof.

"So, what happened to you?" I asked. Peter explained about the Cross-Species-Genetics and how he was bit by a mutated spider. "How long have you been an Avenger?" I asked, trying to think. "Six or seven months," Peter replied. "And I've only seen you for one of those months." i said, lookong down.

"But there are more months to come," Peter laughed. "And I made friends with your dad while you were gone." "Of course tou did. Banner impressed with your knowledge of science?" I asked. "Eh..." Peter waved his hand in the 50-50 sign. "He knows more science than I could hope to learn," Peter smiled.

I sighed, tired. "Don't fall down," Peter said, edging a bit closer. As something knotted in my stomach, I looked down at the street below. Next thing I know, I'm falling. I didn't scream—that would do nothing for me. Something latched onto my shoulder and I was risen up higher. Peter hung from the overhang of the ledge. He pulled me close to him amd grinned. "Shiloh? Hellooooo? Are you up here? Huh." I heard Clint's voice distantly.

"Why did you push me?" I hissed as the door shut. I knew better than to think that Clint was gone. "You want to stay in plain sight of someone with a bucket of water?" Peter whispered. I shivered as his breath tickled my ear. "Oh..." I breathed, listening harder. I heard gravel slide as Clint shifted. That was unlike him. The master assassin never moves when he's hiding.

"Do you know where he is?" I asked. Peter shook his head. Closing my eyes, I listened. "He's right above us." I breathed almost silently. "Hold on," I wrapped my arms around Peter and he swung around the building to the other side.

I jumped onto the roof, tackling Clint. Water went everywhere, but I didn't get a drop on me. I looked up from my position on top of Clint. Peter stood, stunned and drenched. "Oops—heehee—sorry Peter—heehee—get up, Clint." Clint threw me off and I went flying. I landed right by the edge and slammed into it. Groaning, I picked myself up. Peter had walked inside a minute ago, so I just smacked Clint over the head and stalked after him.

Pepper, Natasha, Jane, Darcy and I sat at the mercy of our hairdressers. "You have thirty minutes," Steve said, peeking in the door. Jade, my hair dresser, fluffed my curls so that they looked like big waves.

"Quick, go get your dress on," she said. I looked down ar my white tanktop and leggings. "I was thinking of wearing this," I said. "Peter wouldn't mind what you wear," Natasha said. Huh? "Oh, sorry. I forgot. It isn't your wedding." She smirked. Obviously this was payback for trying on dresses. I made a wringing motion with my hands, pretending I held her neck.

Jade followed me. "You have a very small waist, this should fit you nicely," She said, picking up the blue dress. "You might take off the tanktop—I don't want excess straps to show." She said, frowning. I stood before her, stripped the tanktop and held my arms out for the dress. "Uh uh. You're wearing this," instead of the dress, she shoved something into my hands.

I looked at it with distaste. "No excess straps," she said. I took off my sports bra and replaced it with a strapless one. Now I slid the dress on. The shoulder straps lay two inches away from my neck, in the curve of the joint between my shoulder and elbow, and was one inch wide. The neck triangled down three inches below my collar bone,

.

Revealing only slightly the space between my breasts, and then the waist clung tightly to me, showing how small my waist really was. "Wait a minute, take off the leggings," Jade instructed. I peeled them off. "Gorgeous."

I waited for the others, and then helped Pepper into her dress. We filed out of the room and stood by the door. The entrance was between this door and the door the groom's men stood beside. I was behind Natasha and Darcy, and Jade hurried Pepper to the entrance hall. Natasha went first, and, to her distaste, linked arms with Clint.

Jane went to Thor, Darcy went to Steve and then I went to Peter. "You look nice," he whispered out of unmoving lips. "Pepper said I could keep the dress," I breathed back. Peter smiled slightly, more to the guests than to my response. I walked away from him to stand on the top step.

Darcy's little sister came down the aisle, sprinkling pink rose petals. Tony winked at me before turning to see his bride. Pepper's red curls contrasted against her white gown, and my heart leapt at the sight of her. My mom. Almost. The wedding march sprang to life.

Pepper slipped a ring to me and smiled. I returned it and took her boquet. "Dearly beloved..." Tony rolled his eyes and I smirked at him. I glanced away as they kissed and then welcomed Pepper into my embrace. "I never did askyou if you were okay with this," she whispered.

"I'm all for it...Mom." She smiled and kissed my cheek. "I love you sweetie." Tony wrapped his arm around Pepper and I stood back. I ran into something and spun around. Peter took a step back.

"Sorry..." I said, looking back at the newly weds. Weird. My dad, playboy billionaire, married. I love it. For the fourth time in my life, we danced, (she danced twice before during missions) and I was even asked to dance by Jane's five year old nephew. I danced just to humor him.

He was cute, but short. "That was nice of you," I jumped, again, at the sound of Peter. "Why wouldn't I? He's a sight cuter than you," I teased, taking his hand. "Oh, come now..." I laughed, swinging to the music. Then Tony stole me from Peter and...well...after that we ate and it was over.

We had all just gone home when my telephone rang. "Agent Shiloh Stark," I moaned. "Agent Stark, report for duty." An automated voice monotoned and I threw back the covers. Grabbing my backpack, the emergency one, I deleted all traces of the call and texted Dad on a private line.

The jet had landed on the roof, and I boarded as I pinned up my hair in a twisted, neat bun. "Peter," I said, surprised. "SHIELD called me in," He shrugged. I put in my ear piece and got out my Stark Pad, or sPad for short.

At the HC, we reported immediately to Fury. "Agent Stark, Agent Parker," He nodded to us. "This man, Anthony Reed, is a millionaire illegal nuclear manufacturur. We have learned that he plans to release two of these weapons within the next three days. But first he will be attending a gala in India to meet with a man who also knows the codes.

"You two are to arrive as a couple, find both men and stop the launch. Just don't blow up the facility. This is a very covert mission—" "Nicolas Fury!" Tony shouted, stomping in. Iron Man's spectacular entrance. Just without the suit.

The men stepped into a room and I heard Tony shouting aboht me not being able to go. He came out, fuming. "If she doesn't come back, I'll blow your head off." He growled to Peter. "Yes sir." Peter said, shouldering his duffle bag. "But that won't happen," I promised, heading to the hanger.

"By Dad!" I shouted. We got to the airport and I changed into a khaki skirt and blue tanktop. "The gala is tomorrow—" Peter began. "Tomorrow as in tomorrow or today? Its one AM." I yawned. "Tomorrow as in tomorrow," Peter laughed and checked his watch.

"Our flight leaves in thirty minutes," he said, walking through the metal detectors. I took my watch and shoes off and followed him through. "You did check the bags, didn't you?" I asked, grabbing my messenger bag off the conveyor belt.

"Sure I did," Peter said, pulling his coat and shoes back on. We re-strapped our watches and went to the gates. "You wanna get breakfast now or when we get to India?" Peter asked. "What time will we get there?" I asked. "We have to switch planes once, so around ten." He answered.

(I'm not sure exactly how long it would take, so I'm making it up) "I'll get breakfast in India," I said, shaking my head. "Okay, well, I will too. But for now I'm going to get a bag of trail mix," He said.

I laughed and followed him into the gift shop. I purchased a pack of spearmint 5 gum, a small bag of pretzel sticks and a leather bound journal with a lotus flower, a hibiscus flower and a tigerlily all in the bottom right hand corner of it.

"Do you have a pen?" Peter teased. "Yes I have a pen," I replied, smiling at the cashier and taking my change. "We have twenty minutes to blow," Peter said. "Okay. I'm getting a coffee," I walked to the StarBucks, him following and ordered. By the time we had finished, the plane was boarding.

We found our seats, which were right next to each other, and buckled our seatbelts. Peter immediately took out headphones and started munching on pretzels, almonds, peanuts and sesame sticks.

I sighed and leaned against the sear, closing my eyes. "Don't let me stay on the plane," I murmured. "I wouldn't do that," Peter teased as I fell asleep. It was eight AM when we changed planes, and nine thirty when we reached India.

"I'm starving," Peter said. I hadn't even touched my pretzels. "So am I, but let's get our bags first," I said, going to the baggage claim. We found the car SHIELD had provided for us, pretending it was my sister's.

We found a breakfast joint and then checked into a hotel. We were supposed to be American, so I didn't need an accent this time. I got my things ready for tomorrow. Diamond dangle earrings, red sleeveless dress, cream sandels with three inch heels, ruby red lipstick, black mascara, sparkly blue eyeshadow and clear and white nail polish.

I parked my self in the bathroom and carefully applied fake fingernails, ones that were really long. I gave them the French paint job—glossy clear with white on the end. (I think its French) i brushed through my hair, putting the curly mess up into a styled ponytail. The dark brown with lighter brown highlighted hair fell neatly down just below my shoulder blades.

"Bella, I can't find my keys," Peter called. "Jonathan, honestly?" I teased. "I'll look for them." I'll look for bugs and cameras. "I know where they are," I responded. I found them all. "They're not in the bathroom," I walked past him and picked them up from beside a plant. "Here," I said.

I picked up his phone from where I'd placed it on the nightstand next to the headboard. "On the alarm clock," I smiled, handing it to him. "And your coat is hanging on the hook." The video camera is by the coat hook. "Anything else?" "Nope," Peter returned my grin and I lay down on the bed, blowing on my fingernails.

My eyelids grew heavy and I sank into a deep slumber. Peter was shaking me awake the next morning. "I tried to call work," I tried to report to Fury. "But the lines must have been down." We've lost contact. "I'll try again later." Peter opened the door for room service and I got up.

Changing into a knee length, long sleeved, light pink dress, I put a hand on Peter's back and kissed his cheek, grabbing my plate of food. "Thanks, honey," I smiled, sitting back down on the bed.

"We should look around while we're here," Peter suggested. "Yeah," that day we went sight seeing, trying to learn what we could about Anthony Reed. When night came, we hadn't gotten anywhere. I put on my dress, earrings, shoes and makeup, and went with Peter to the car. He escorted me into the huge place, and I saw Reed at the bar.

I walked toward the bar, and Peter walked a little ways away. "Lovely music," Reed commented as I swayed to it. "Yes, it is," I replied softly. "Do you like music?" Rees wondered. "It depends on the music. You?" I asked, edging closer.

"I prefer science," no kidding. "Where is your escort? Surely a pretty girl like you has a guard," Anthony smiled. "Oh, he's probably out flaunting himself to the women," I scoffed teasingly. I heard Peter splutter in protest through my ear piece.

"Well," Anthony said. I took a seat right next to him. He looked at me, interested but bored at the same time. "Excuse me," He smiled and walked away. I knew immediately what I had done wrong and cursed myself. "Why's he leaving?" Peter asked in my ear. "I was too easy," I groaned. "He's still watching you," Peter said.

I saw Peter appear beside me. He took my hand, and I looked up. Peter held a hand to my face and pressed his lips to mine, and I saw him glance over my shoulder. That same feeling knotted in my stomach as he stepped back. I turned around when a hand rested on my back.

"I never properly introduced myself," he said. "I am Anthony," since he was standing, I realized how young he was. Late twenties, at least. I giggled as his fingers ran possesively up my arm. "Shall we go upstairs?" He asked. I nodded 'shyly'. His arm snaked suggestively around my waist and I followed him to the elevator. As soon as we got inside I felt him move closer. We were immediately let into a huge room with a canopy bed, white plush carpets, the whole nine yards.

I tried not to tense up as he began to kiss my neck and unzip my dress. I turned around, smirked and wrapped my arms around his neck, jerked, and flipped him until he fell on the floor. "Two things, and you can keep your head. Nuclear codes and the name of your contact. Give me the codes," I growled, clamping my arms around his throat.

"Codes! Now!" I shouted. He whispered them hoarsely and I knocked him out. Injecting him with a brainwash, I put him on his bed and zipped up my dress. Going back down stairs, I asked the man at the door if a 'Tarrence Williams' had arrived. "Yes miss, he is there in the blue blazer," the man pointed. "Thank you." i said.

"I'm on him," Peter said. "I'll get the car," I replied, walking outside. Getting in, I slipped leggings and a t shirt on and drove the car around to the back. Peter drug Tarrence outa d threw him in the bench outside the door. Getting into the car, he ripped off his tux to reveal pants and a shirt underneath.

"We have to get to the facility, now," I said, pulling onto the road. Swerving in and out of traffic, I made my way to a white building. I slipped out, retriving my pistol. Before going onto Reed's compound, I pressed my back against the building a bit away from the white one. Looking around, I chacked the magazine and cocked my weapon.

I flicked the switch to 'safety' just as I heard footsteps. I looked down at the gun, to the direction of the footsteps, and then up at Peter. Mind racing, I tried to think of something. "Do something!" I whispered.

"Do what?" Peter was equally panicked. "Kiss me," I decided. He looked hesitant. "Don't shoot me," He warned, and kissed me before I could respond. My back was pressed harder into the brick wall, and the gun was hidden from sight between us.

I heard the footsteps hesitate and I wrapped my arms around Peter, silently willing them to leave. They pounded away and I straightened. Pushing Peter away, I pulled another pistol out of my thigh holster and gave it to him. "Sorry," He said, noticing my jerky movements.

"Don't be. I told you to do it." I said, tightening my boot laces and binding my hair up into a knot. "I'm not used to this kind of work, I wasn't sure." He apologized again. "Look, SHIELD school will tell you all you need to know," I whispered. "I tell you to do something, don't hesitate."

"Got it," "Follow me," I said, jogging towards the compound. Peter grabbed Night Vision goggles that doubled as infrared. "Four doors in sight...guards on all but one," He reported quietly. "What is the unguarded one?" I asked, trying to see throuhh the dark.

"Looks like a utility door," He said, trying to focus. "We'll go in that door. Check windows," I said. "Stained glass." Peter said. "You're not supposed to see through them," I nodded, backing against the door. "If this door is unguarded then they're going to check it every few minutes. We have to hurry." I said, turning the knob and training my weapon all around the room.

"Dead end," Peter said, looking for doors. "No," I said, looking up. "Ventilation." I backed out of the utility room and followed the huge pipe. It lead into the building. "We'll go there." I said. He was already removing the grate. "I need pliers," he said. I picked a pair up off the bench.

He pried the grate off. "I can't lift you, so you get up first," I said, pulling the table over and grabbing the binoculars. Peter jumped up and reached down. I took his hands and flipped myself up. Holstering my gun, I crawled silently behind him.

"You have the bag, right?" I asked. "Yes." Peter replied, pausing to look down a shaft. "No. Keep moving forward," I commanded. Peter shifted along silently. "Where do we go?" Peter asked. "Fifty yards forward," I said, remembering the map of the building. And then the shaft started tilting up.

"Here." Peter said, looking down a grate. He lifted the metal and set it besid him. Peter jumped, even though we were fifty feet off the ground. He shot a web and waited for me. I jumped and he caught me, then lowere us to the ground.

"Jeez, that's a lot of missiles," I groaned, taking a kit from Peter. He reached into one of the pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out something, which he unfolded to reveal a duffle bag. I ran over to the first one, unscrewed the top plate and pulled a cylindar out. "Why is this so easy?" Peter asked.

"Because these are still in progress. The security software hasn't been loaded in yet." I replied, placing the cylindae in the bag. I did it to all of them, deactivating them. "Now we go into the computer room. That we can blow up," I said. I walked into an adjoining room. I saw a countdown clock and grabbed three grenades from a box to my left.

Yanking out the pins, I threw them in, shut the door and we ran. The explosion was minor, but effective. "Now we take out the guards..." I looked down at the sPod in my hands. "We take out the guards and let the gas out," I said, running down the hall. "Where's the break room?" Peter asked. "They take their rests down the corridor to the left," I pointed, and he looked at me for a second and then ran.

No worries, Peter. My dad'll have no reason to blow your head off. I ran on, looking for the guards. I didn't need to. They found me. I ran into the group of them right in front of the chemical room. There were at least twenty. "She's just a girl," they mumbled. "Surely she could 't have blown the computer room..." While they remained indecicive, I grabbed one's arm and twisted, sending him sprawling downward.

They no longer waited to take action. One man ran at me and I swung the guard that I held at him. I kicked another one in the face, wondering why they hadn't used guns. I had to get to the duffel bag before I could release the gas. I saw one gun, spun away from its weilder and dashed around in a flurry of kicks and punches. They all hit the ground cold but one. I was crouched down, just finishing a flip when I felt a cool barrel touch my forehead.

"Move and you're dead," he threatened. I froze, wondering what to do. I closed my eyes, and heard two shots. Surprisingly, I didn't feel anything. Not even the barrel on y forehead. My eyes popped open and the man was on the floor, two bloody holes in his cold body.

Peter stood in his place. He tossed me a gas mask and extracted two SHIELD cylindars. "This is all the guards," he said. "I checked," SHIELD had taken the brainwash injection and put it into inhalation form. We twisted the caps and rolled them down the hall, watching red smoke puff out of them.

"Let's get out of here." I said, retrieving my gun. "I've got the cylindars. What do we do with them?" I looked at the last message Fury sent before deleting it. "We dispose of them," I said, righting my shirt from its rumpled state. "How?" "I like the method of tossing them in an ocean, but..."

We ended up dropping a few drips of phosphoric acid into the cylindars, and then tossing them at a dump, tied up in multiple layers of bags. As we walked back to the car, three helicopter search lights trained on us.

"Stop right there!" Someone shouted on a megaphone. "We're outta here," I groaned, getting into the car quickly. I yanked it into gear and pulled away from the compound right as warning gunfire sounded. "You know how to drive, right?" Peter asked, clutching his seat.

"I was taught by Russians, Peter. I drive like a professional. Probably." "Probably?!" Peter repeated as I jerked in and out of traffic. I drove into a tunnel, losing the helicopters and pulled over. Pulling up a map on my sPad, I found a ferry dock seven miles from here.

"Hope SHIELD didn't pay a lot for this car," I remarked, gunning the engine and shooting out of the tunnel. "What's that supposed to mean?" Peter asked, looking behind us. He looked awfully calm. "It means we're going for a swim." I said.

I floored the gas pedal and steered the car clear of a huge truck. The vehicle was illuminated again as the helicopters pin pointed us. "They wouldn't shoot at us with the possibility of hitting a citizen would they?" Peter asked, looking at the map.

"Not likely. But who knows what they'll do. We did just sabotage India's millionaire's manufacturing facility." I shrugged. "There it is," Peter pointed. The short cut was a stretch of road that no body else was on. "Crap," I muttered, and turned into it anyway. Gun fire rained down on us, hitting the tail end of the car.

"Bail," I said. "One, two, three," Peter popped his door open and jumped. I grabbed my duffel and jumped out the door on my side. The car continued on without us, stopping when it hit the water. I rolled to a stop and stood. The search lights retrained on us and I began to run.

"Looks like we have to swim after all," I muttered, pumping my arms. We hit the bridge and jumped. I tossed my bag to Peter and he webbed it to the bottom of the bridge roght before we hit the water.

It was cold. Like a freezer. "Still can't contact SHIELD?" I asked, resurfacing under the bridge. "I'll check again. We have to get to the airport." Peter gasped. "Dang. Can't stop at the hotel?" "'Fraid not." "All I have in my bag is my dress," I moaned.

We waited in the water until the helicopters flew away, abandoning their search until morning. Peter pulled us out. "Look away," I said, taking my bag from him. In the shadows of the bridge, I stripped off my clothes and grabbed an emergency towel from it. Wrapping up, I dried off and slipped into my dress.

I wrapped our clothes in a plastic bag and we headed to the airport. "Cold..." I moaned. We checked the bag, got on the plane and slept the entire way to NYC. "Can we get lunch before we go to the HC?" I asked as we stepped out of the plane. "Yeah. Your feet hurt?" "They're killing me," I said, staring with loathe at my heels.

We stopped at Quiznoe's and got a sanwich to share. The jet was waiting for us when we got out of the airport. We were flown to the QuinJet and then up into the HC. I started to head to my room to change when I saw Fury. He was lookin at a screen. Upon further inspection, I found that it was a video of me fighting the guards in India.

A screen to his right showed Peter fighting the guards in the Break Room. "Um, Director Fury...?" I asked. "Agent Parker, Agent Stark, congratulations. You've just been accepted into SHIELD school." He said. I dropped my bag.

"It was a test?" I squeaked. "Yes." "So we brainwashed those people for nothing?" "No, the mission was real. But you being the agents going was your acceptance test." Fury said.

"Thanks...I guess?" I muttered. "I'm going to change," I said, looking down at the sleeveless red dress. "Me too," Peter folowed me down the hall and we split up to go to our rooms. I returned in my SHIELD uniform and boots. "Shiloh, Peter!" Tony called from Banner's lab. "You all knew about this, didn't you?" I asked, looking around at the Avengers.

"Yeah...so?" Clint shrugged. "You're a cute couple." Everyone—EVERYONE—glared at him. "What? You saw the video?" "Wait, we were on surveillance the whole time?" Peter asked. "We have access to every security camera in the world." Natasha shrugged. "It was easy to bug your room and car."

"Uh-huh. Well, I have to get some information. Please excuse me." I said, offered a fake smile and stalked out of the room.


	22. SHIELD school

I walked stiffly to my room and retrived my sPad. I looked at the email Maria Hill had sent me.

'Shiloh Stark: You will be attending the SHIELD school in California for the duration of your high school years. You will be taught with college level studies as well as other classes that are needed for being a SHIELD agent. Your vacations will be only a week long, and when your principal allows it. Your grades will be sent to your parent/legal guardian every week. All of this is paid for. Vehicles owned by students are allowed (motorcyles, cars). Director Fury will not be calling you out for missions during your time at SHIELD school. Have an educational time.'

"Lovely. Three years. California. Darn." I printed the email and stuffed it in my folder. "Dad, I have to go back to the tower to pack," I said. "Yeah, about that, I have a gift for you when we get there," Tony said. "Really?" I asked suspisciously. "And for your boyfriend, too."

"Dad!" I shouted angrily. "Sorry, Sunshine. Couldn't resist." We walked out to the hanger and got in the jet. I sat as far away from Peter as possible. "Bye!" Clint called in a high pitched voice. "Shut up Clint or I won't send emails!" I threatened teasingly. I heard him pretend to cry as the door shut.

"Child," I scoffed. Tony nodded. "I prefer this Clint over the brainwashed one, though." He said. At Avengers tower, I took the elevator up to my room and grabbed my duffel and backpack. Throwing tanktops, t-shirts, jeans and leggings in the duffel, I added neccessities and zipped it up. I packed my electronics and SHIELD uniforms into my backpack, along with a few books and other things.

"Shiloh, I'm waiting," Tony said through the entercom. I picked up both of my bags in one hand and walked outside. Stepping into the elevator, I put my hair up and spun my Augusta keys around my finger.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Dad, what is this?" I stepped into the workshop. A black and yellow Camaro sat gleaming. A silver motorcycle trailer was attached and Peter was rolling my Agusta into the back. Another black camaro sat beside the black and yellow.

"Happy birthday. Since you spent your birthday with Russians, I decided to get you something worthwhile," he said. I thanked Peter for moving Augusta and then circled the car. "Dad...I don't know what to say!" I whispered.

He shrugged and I hugged him. "Thanks. It means a lot to me," I kissed his cheek and put my bags in the back. "Bye, Pepper—oops..." I laughed nervously at my new mom. "The name Pepper is staying," she said, hugging me. "Good," I stepped back, took the keys Tony tossed to me and thrned toward the awesome car. It was one of the lesser cars I had seen in my Dad's possession, but probably my favorite anyway.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Tony made me stop. I heard Peter's door slam shut. So Tony gave him the black one. Tony held something out. It was the Iron Eagle suit in a traveling case. Like his Iron Man thing. "You finished painting it?" I smiled. "Thanks," I took the suit and put it in the back. "Bye!" I called, shutting my door. The black interior made me smile. I was off to a new start. And I was going to live in the moment.

"If I know my Dad, he jimmied with this car. I'll bet my life's savings that he installed SOCA." I waited. "I am pleased to inform you that you will not be losing any money, Miss Stark," I smirked at my AI and started the car. "My music, SOCA?" I requested, and she turned it on. Man, I love my Dad.

(I meant to tell how Shiloh got her driver's liscense after she got back. She is now seventeen, BTW,)

I called Peter that evening to tell him I wasn't stopping for the night. "You can drive all night long?" He asked. No, SOCA can take over, I responded silently. "No," I said. "What? Wai—!" I hung up and smiled at the angry teenager through my rear view mirror.

We hit California two days later. I followed directions to the SHIELD school, which was impressively hidden under the name, 'Cece's Private School'. The private school, I learned, that only accepted kids they had called in. No one could get in on their own.

"This is it..." I murmured, pulling into a parking space.

"Yes, this is your room, and here is your file." The school secretary didn't smile as she handed me keys and a folder. "You have a key to the laundry room as well," she said. I found Peter and I were right beside each other, and that I had to move my car to sit beside me apartment.

We climbed the stairs to our rooms and looked around. It was clean. Cozy, but clean. I went into the kitchen and looked through the file. On the cover, it said, an agent must be able to do everything. I soon realized why. I had a cooking class, an engineering class, medicine, chemistry, all the good stuff. Dang.

There were motorcycle and car classes, too. But if I explained all the classes it'd take the entire day. I hung up my clothes, put up my books, memorized my locker number and scanned the school map to my sPad.

The next morning I headed to school. My normal classes, math, science, history, were first. In chemistry I learned how to make three different types of gases. Then I went to cooking class, much to my distaste. I was learning a new martial art, ninjutsu, when Peter walked in. "Where have you been?" I asked, throwing a sheathed sword his way.

"In all the classes you were in," he shrugged. I wasn't surprised. Those classes were big. After that I went to engineering class, medicine and then motorcycle. I had a dirtbike, a blue yamaha, and rode it over the track, full of hills and jumps and turns. Best. Class. Yet.

Then I re-learned how to drive a car, which was quite easy. SHIELD school does not give lunch break. Another part of training, I suppose. The next morning, I was standing in my sports bra brushing my hair. I moved in front of the mirror. An arm snaked around my waist and I looked up. No one I recognized. My elbow flew up, hitting him in the face. I jabbed my brush handle into his stomach and blocked a kick to my ribs.

Deflecting a practiced punch at my arm, I held his hand over his head and kicked him in the stomach, making him clamp his arm around my waist. I felt my yoga pants snag on my nightstand as I hooked my leg around his and jerked, throwing the teen off balance. I felt a knife at my throat. Grabbing his wrist, I twisted and sank my teeth into his arm while, at the same time, he pinched my neck.

I winced and threw my head back, breaking his nose. I heard a click and jumped out of the way as he whipped a gun out. I grabbed the barrel and flipped, twisting his arm so much his wrist broke. Snatchig the gun and knife, I aimed the gun at him and tossed the knife on the bed.

"Get up," I growled. "No need for that, Miss Stark." My Special Weapons and Tactical teacher stepped in the room. "Mr. Ritchie!" I glanced at him. He took the gun from me. "Very good," he said, helping the boy up. "Here at SHIELD school, we test the students randomly when they're not expecting it." He said.

"This what you call a test?" I growled. "Look, Miss Stark. Your daddy may be one of the richest men alive but I don't care. You won't be spoiled or treated like royalty any longer. Peter burst into the room. "Yes sir," I said through gritted teeth. Peter frowned at Mr. Ritchie.

"You have school in two hours," he reminded, leading the boy out. "Spoiled? Treated like royalty?" Peter practically exploded. "Peter, this is like bootcamp. Only easier. They get on your nerves. But that doesn't matter because you have to respect them anyway."

I pulled on a shirt. "I am impressed with their tranjng technic though," I admitted. "They use guns!" Peter exclaimed. "That's the point." I grinned and sat on the bed. "I have calc homework to turn in..." Peter moved so I could get to my desk. "And an...anatomy...of a car's engine form for engineering class..." Obviously mechanical engineering was the first kind that we study.

"And this recipie," I picked up the one I had chosen. "And my report on the gas for chemistry," I picked up the sPad and prited out my report. "A history and English paper, also an itallian paper, Spanish paper, French paper, Greek and Latin paper," I printed out the sheets.

"Ninjutsu has no homework." I put it all in my back pack and sighed. "They sure like homework, don't they?" Peter asked, lifting his own backpack. "Yeah," I groaned. "I don't know which language I'm speaking sometimes," I said.

"You're lucky. You've learned these languages, I have to learn them." Peter groaned. "Well, Latin and Greek are new." I said. "I know every language but one, actually," Peter said. "That so?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's all Greek to me," he teased and I shoved him off the bed.

"Stupid, corny, idiot jokes," I mumbled, looking out the window. "How'd that dude get in here?" Peter asked. "I'm trying to figure that out," I said. "And I'll be ready if he tries it again." "Uh-oh. Should I ask you for a key?" Peter asked. "No." I lied.

"I don't know they're method for random attacks," I said. "So I'm going to be ready for anything. Meaning: you can't know what I'm doing," I picked up my bag and we walked out. Calculus passed painfully, an hour long. It was easy—boring, but easy.

I take advanced school already in SOS, but they didn't have college level so I was stuck doing tenth grade math. Science I had to do a report on the different types of phosphorus, researching allowed. History has another essay coming, and language was the funnest 'real school' class yet.

In cooking, I made enchiladas—don't laugh, Peter made lasagna—and then Ninjutsu. I was paired up with another girl, this time, instead of Peter. My dirtbike was waiting for me, and I was chasing someone else. Then they put a passenger on behind me. I will admit we took some spills.


	23. Chicago

The next day was Saturday. Like any school, we had that day off. So I took that oppurtunity to booby trap my dorm. I put sensers on all the window frames that would fire tear gas and trigger my alarm clock. I set a computerized code on the door, so that I had to unlock the door, type in the code and then open it or get tranq gas.

My dorm phone rang two minutes after I stood back, admiring my work. "Dang. Didn't even get the chance to jimmy with my air vents." I grumbled before picking up the reciever. "Stark," I answered. "Miss Stark. You have been chosen for an excercise testing procedure. Please make your way to the gym in approximately fifteen minutes. Equipment will be provided for you."

The line went dead and I dropped the phone back into the cradle. I went to change my clothes. Putting on a black tank top, black cargo pants and black combat boots, I tied my hair up in a high pony-tail (stupid name for that, by the way) and grabbed a pair of safety glasses with yellow-tinted lenses.

Leaving the dorm, I hesitated by Peter's door but kept walking towards the main school building. "Alright! Listen up!" Someone I had never seen before, named Gabe Richards, paced in front of the line of six SHIELD agents. Including Peter.

"I have assigned to each of you a partner and equipment. This is a training exercise, blank rounds and bullet-proof vests are being used today. Your target is this person—Edward Tule. He and Sophia Martinez are supposed to be a couple of master assasins, but are really SHIELD students, so no head shots." Richards watched as an assistant dropped duffle bags at our feet.

"Garcia and Harmon, Jackson and Wilson, Stark and Parker. Teams Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Alpha team, you will start your surveillance here—," Richards pointed at a map, showing Juan Garcia and Matthiew Harmon. "Beta team, here," Sarah Jackson and Curtis Wilson found their place and headed out.

"Gamma Team, here," Peter and I picked up our duffles. "Yes sir," "Oh, teams!" Richards bellowed. All three teams stopped. "Earpieces are wired to each individual team. To communicate with other teams, use the walkies." He stalked away and we headed out. The livestock feed market was within running distance.

Peter and I got there in good time and went inside. Everyone was gone, cleared out for the training. "Take high ground," I instructed, beginning to climb up a huge pile of round hay bales. "Got it," Peter swung up there on a rope and helped me the last few feet. I pulled my bag off my shoulder and set it down.

I tested the earpiece, hooked the walkie to my belt and layed out my weapons. A pistol and a sniper. I set my bullet proof vest on the hay and sat on the edge, my feet hanging off. While we waited for some sign to move in, I checked my weapons.

"Can I ask you a question?" Peter asked. "Shoot," I slid on my safety glasses. "What's your middle name?" I shot him a speculative look and dropped the pistol's magazine into my hand. "Bird." I pushed it back in. "Shiloh Bird Stark." He felt the words while I flicked the safety on.

"My turn," I pulled back the slide (I think that's what it's called) and set the gun beside me. "Does anyone here know you're Spider Man?" I picked up the riffle. Peter shook his head. "No." I readied the sniper, too, while he looked through his own bag. "Gamma Team, move in. Sniper needed," Alpha Team said through the walkie. I was the one that got the sniper. I slung it over my shoulder and climbed quickly down the hay.

Running past buildings and dumpsters, I followed the tracking device on my phone. I got to my location and started up the fire escape. Taking every other step and swinging over each turn, I got the the roof and lowered myself to my stomach. Setting up the sniper riffle, I saw the three teams trap one person in the middle.

I looked down the barrel of my gun and looked for a good chest shot. Edward Tule turned to inspect every exit. I pulled the trigger and he went down. "Beta Team, get him back to base. Gamma team, follow us to Martinez," Alpha team commanded. I picked up my gear and ran along the rooftops, following Juan, Matthiew and Peter. I jumped and ran down the fire escape and took a different path, Stille following Alpha Team's tracking signal. I wasn't out of breath. I guess that enhancement serum isn't too bad.

I got my pistol out of my holster and held it at arm's length. I heard labored breathing and stumbling footsteps. Ducking behind a dumpster, I waited. Peter appeared silently in the alley to my left. Directly ahead of me came a girl—Sophia Martinez. It was an open shot—for Peter. There was a way for me to get her, but it wasn't as easy.

"If you don't do it now, I'm taking the shot," I muttered in my earpiece. He took the shot, though. I lowered my weapon as she fell to the ground coughing. "Ow, man, ow," I she laughed, gripping the black plastic bullet embedded in her vest. Peter and I grabbed her arms. "Gamma Team. Aquired target," I reported.

She grinned at me. "Hey Shiloh. Long time no see," "Shut up. You're a hostage," I smirked and we half led, half carried her back to the school. "Well done, people. You may enjoy the rest of your Saturday," Richards said. I grabbed a pair of pliers and yanked the blank out of her vest.

"Thanks," She said, sliding it over her head. "See you Monday," I called, depositing my duffle bag and walking out the door. "I'm surprised you weren't cut." Peter commented as we headed back to our rooms. I looked at him, finally noticing that he was at least an inch taller than me—even though I was Natasha's height.

"How come?" I pulled off my safety glasses. "You didn't wear a bullet proof vest during the entire training exercise," he pointed out. "Oh, yeah. Forgot about it. At least I didn't get shot," I grimaced, thinkin of the pain of a plastic bullet. "Eh. You would have lived," Peter teased. I grinned. "Helpful friend you are," I typed in my computer password and opened the door.

"I'm gonna call Dad and...Mom. See ya," I waved as Peter retreated down the hall to his dorm.

"Hey Sunshine. We miss you—what's happening?" "Hi, Dad," I said, sinking down on the bed. "You know I'm not allowed to tell you, right? I am, however, allowed to tell you that some of the students are doing a practice mission in Chicago," I confided.

"Chicago...not really a special place.." "Dad..." "Is Peter going?" "Yeah, the school named us partners." I shook my hair out. "Did he tell you I put him in charge of you?" "Dad!" "What? I also sent Iron Eagle suit, so you could protect yourself! Have you not taken it out for a test drive yet or something?" Tony asked. "No. I was going to do that after I got off the phone. How are you and Pepper doing?" I wondered.

"Fine. Fury's got Natasha in picking up your slack though," Tony said quietly. I slammed my fist into the footboard of my bed. "Dang." I growled. "Slow down, Spit Fire. I've got good news, too." Tony's careful voice made me stop. "What's that?" I asked, flexingmy knuckles.

"Fury said that since you've already gone through SHIELD bootcamp, and Peter's been an agent for a year, you guys can come home with a two year degree." Tony informed me. "Dad, that's like the best news I've heard since I left." I couldn't stop smiling.

"Why, you miss me?" Tony teased. "More than you know," I sighed, right as another voice countered, "No, she misses me!" I laughed quietly. "Hi, Clint." "Shiloh," Now he was back to no-nonsense archer attitude. 1. 2. 3..."So what you and Peter doin'?" He asked teasingly. And there he went.

"Peter...Peter...oh, yeah, Peter! Eh. I shot him on the first day. He's still recovering in the hospital. In...Vietnam." I lied. "Really." Clint was unimpressed. "No, he's fine. Sort of." I said more convincingly. "Shiloh, what did you do?" "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" I asked, hearing Tony laugh in the background. "Dang, you're just like Natasha," Clint mumbled.

"I didn't touch Peter, Clint. I've got to go. I'm sure if you turn on the news, you'll see me right away." I hid a smile. "WHA—!" I hung up mid scream. That was Pepper, by the way. I had to tell Peter. I grabbed my Iron Eagle case and ran down the hall. I knocked on his door rapidly.

"Hold on," Peter slowly came to the door, and looked at me, wide eyed. I told him about our two-year thing. "Sweet," He looked really relieved. Like he would have died otberwise or something. "Okay, I'm going out to an empty field." I said, turning towards my car.

"Uh huh," Peter nodded. I was about to tell him not to try to go in my room, but, what the heck. We'll see if he can get past my traps. I got in my Camaro and threw the case in the back. Driving out along the road, I looked for public fields. I found an old driving track that only had a few kids going around on bicycles, scateboards and rollerblades.

I got out of the car, squinting against the sun and grabbed the case. Kids watched me curiously as I got far away from the track. I set the suit down on the ground and stuck my hands in the gloves. (I'm just going to call them that) I straightened and pulled my hands apart, standing stiff while the blue and silver plates constructed themselves around my body. I heard 'Whoa's and a few startled shouts as I looked around.

"SOCA, you in there?" "Yes, miss," SOCA replied. I powered up the thrusters and lifted from the ground. "Get higher away from the ground—the grass is dry." I muttered to myself. I flew higher and saw what looked suspisciously like Peter's black camaro coming up the road a little ways back.

Ha. No buildings for him to swing off of out here. "SOCA, ring up Peter's cell." "Yes, Miss Stark." "Hello?" Peter asked carefully. "How's California, Spider Boy?" I asked, practicing different flight patterns. "Too bare. No buildings." Peter responded dryly. "I noticed."

I held out my hand and shot a pulser blast into the sky. "This thing is so cool," I laughed. "Yeah, well, you'd better not destroy anything." Peter teased. "Aw, come on, buggy, what do ya take me for?" I slowly came down and landed gently as Peter drove up.

The joints of my suit whirred and purred mechanically while I moved. "Why are you here?" I asked as the face plate came down. Peter leaned against the car and crossed his arms. "Got bored." "You followed me immediately." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, fine. I wanted to see the suit." Be admitted, gesturing to the metal machine encasing my body.

"Well, you saw it. What do you think?" I asked. "I think it's just as awesome as your dad's." he said, smiling. "So, I heard about the training mission in Chicago...how long is it?" Peter asked. "Uh...one week," I said, clomping away to start again. "And are we ever going to do real missions?" Peter asked, catching up to me. "Next year," I replied, turning around and pointing my palms at the ground. The thrusters fired up and I rose gently into the sky.

When we got back to the dorms, I packed up my things to get ready to leave on Monday. For fun, I was sitting at the table creating a battery gas bomb. It was only a fake—an old-school stink bomb. I held it in my hand, snuck out into the hallway, opened Peter's door and threw it in. "Grenade!" I shouted so only he could hear and ran down the stairs.

I saw smoke billowing out of his room by the time I got to the pavement. Oh, Jeeze, Peter was standing on the balcony getting ready to jump. I veered off toward the field beside the apartment complex, heading away from Peter. I heard him calling my name right before I was tackled to the ground.

Laughing, I rolled on top of my attacker and jumped up. Peter scrambled after me as I dashed toward an obstacle course of oil drums. Needless to say, he tackled me again, trapping under him. Smiling, I wrinkled my nose. "You stink." I said. "So does my room—thanks to you." He wasn't angry, though. "You get to help me clean it out, too." He smirked. "Fine. Now get off." I grunted, shoving him off. Peter rolled over onto his back, patting his pockets. "Dang—can you call my phone?" He asked.

I nodded and pulled out my sPhone. It rang three times. "No one's answering," I whispered. He gave me a 'no kidding' look. I snickered. "Please leave a message to: 'Incredibly Handsom criminal genius and master of all villainy' at the beep. *Beeeep*" I gave Peter an unimpressed look.

"I got voice mail. You do a great impression of Will Ferrel, by the way." "Oh, come on! I love that movie!" He defended himself. "What's your favorite line?" He asked. "'Ah, yes. Spee-ider. Even the smallest bite from Arachnus-Deathacus can instantly paralyse—AH! GET IT OFF!'" I quoted. Peter laughed.

"You?" I asked. "Mostly the same. I do like the scene at the end when they're talking to Metro-Man in the Shool house." Peter smiled. "Yeah..." I grinned. "What's your favorite TV series?" He asked. "'24'" i said. "I like Numb3rs." He said. "I like that one, too." I said.

"Ok. Come on you big headed loser. Let's clean up your room." I said, grabbing his arm and dragging him up. We walked back to his room and I plugged my nose. "Ugh! Open the windows!" I groaned. "Why me?" "Its your room!" "Fine."

Soon, Peter had all of the removable cloth—bed thigs, clothes, curtains, pillows—outside. I came back fromt he store with eight spray cans of air freshener. Peter was in the laundry room tossing clothes into the washer. I went in equipt with a surgical mask and two cans of rose petal air freshener. Holding them out to my sides at arms length, I began spinning around in circles, shouting insane things like, "I belieeeeeeve I can fly!" And "ROOOOOOOOSE BUUUUUUD!"

There was another silly scream that didn't come from me: "AAAAAH! MY EYE!" Peter had walked through the door and gotten a face full of my sparkly mist. "Oh. Hi, Peter." I forgot he couldn't see my cheeky grin behind my white mask. "Shiloh Stark! You sprayed that stuff in my eye!" "Here, let's make you smell like your eye," I aimed both cans at him and sprayed him up and down while he stood there in shock.

I was on the ground laughing before I could stop him from grabbing two more cans and chasing me around his apartment, spraying each other.

That night, with clean clothes, curtains, blankets and bed sheets, Peter should have been good to go. Instead, he was in my room at eight o clock. "Can I wait here for a litle?" He asked. "Sure—why?" I asked, pausing Megamind (I know, all that talk made me turn it on) "My head hurts and if I smell another rose I'll scream." He groaned.

I laughed. "Sure. Come here and watch this movie with me." I lifted my feet off the edge of the couch and curled them beneath me. Soon we were lost in laughter, Peter singing, "Heeere he is! Mister Evil Overlord!" And me singing, "Going off the rails on a crazy train! (Sir),"

I woke up curled up against Peter. His arm was around my shoulders. I jumped up, scattering my blanket and his water bottle and ran to the bathroom. Why was that so unsettling? No idea. But it was. Big time. I heard him mumble my name, confused. "Just a second, Peter." I turned on the water and rinsed my face in cold water and dried it.

"Morning, Arachnus-Deathacus. You slept in my apartment. That'll be five dollars rent." I said, walking to the kitchen. "Uh huh. Don't think so." Peter got up and rubbed his eyes. "Your is exciting! Well, more so than usual, anyways." I said, pouring cereal into a bowl.

"Want some?" I asked. "I'm afraid to eat anything in my dorm." Peter said. I got out another bowl, smiling. "I'm not paying for your food. I helped you clean out your room," I said, getting the milk out. "How about an eye doctor? What is in that stuff?" Peter asked, pulling at his eyelids.

"Fybreeze? Who knows? Probably alcohol and antiseptics and vineagar and..." Peter was clearly unimpressed with my rant. "I'm kidding." "Duh." "Hey, take it back, or you're not eating my breakfast," I said, scooting the bowls toward me.

"I'm sorry. I take it back," Peter said. "Jeeze, you must be hungry," I said, pushing his bowl to him. "Eh," Peter shrugged. I got him and myself a spoon. "Wanna check out your apartment?" I asked, dumping my empty dish in the sink.

"Sure," Peter led the way outside and opened his door. It smelled fresh and clean and slightly sweet. "Whoa. This is a heck of a lot better than last night," He said. I nodded. "This is nice. Ok. Goodbye!" I dashed out of his room, ran into mine and locked the door.


	24. Time Jump

"Okay, we're in Chicago—what do we do now?" Peter asked. "Protection detail," I responded, slipping on a pair of sunglasses. Peter followed me to the car. "Who are we protecting?" Peter asked. "Really, just a SHIELD agent from the Chicago branch, but he is posing as the secretary of state," I said, getting behind the wheel.

"I see. Where do we go?" Peter asked. I handed him the file. "Oh, so the SHIELD—sorry, Secretary of State—doesn't know we're protecting him?" He surmized. "No," I responded. "I get it," Peter nodded. I grinned. Peter's learned a lot these past months. "I never did ask—how are you liking SHIELD school?" Peter asked.

"The only parts I can slightly tolerate is the motorcycle class and the chemistry class—I'm actually working on forming a new kind of gas." "Oh, are you going to telle about it?" Peter raised an eyebrow in my direction. "Nope," I smirked. "Aw, come on, your dad left me in charge of you!" Peter pleaded.

"I don't like people looking after me like I'm some child. Why do you think I'm making the gas?" I joked convincingly. "You wouldn't..." Peter said warily. "Dad wouldn't miss you. Banner would, I'd probably miss the headaches, Clint and Natasha would miss a target..." I summed.

Peter was unamused. "Yeah, sorry, I'd miss you," I relented. Peter smirked. "Ha." "But I'm still smoking your room," I threatened. "And you'll have to clean it up—just like last time." Peter said. "I'm homesick," I said suddenly. Peter looked at me curiously.

"I miss hanging out with Natasha and Clint, I miss my dad's ridiculous ways, I miss Pepper's authority over all of us, I miss Banner's shy secretiveness (even though it drives me crazy sometimes) I miss Thor. Thor! Peter, something's wrong with me when I get to the point that I miss Thor."

Peter chuckled. I tensed when I felt his hand on my shoulder. "We've got less than a year left, Shiloh. It won't be very long," then he furrowed his brow. "You didn't say Steve—don't you miss Steve?" I twisted my lips, knitting my eyebrows.

"I miss Steve the most," I said, braking at the light. Peter's hand fell fromy story. "Shiloh—what happened?" He didn't have to say 'while you were kidnapped'. I heard it in his hesitation. "Loki torchered me. That's what happened. Steve and I grew closer, being the only people there that didn't want to kill each other.

"He...he tried to take my place, but I knew if he did they'd use the scepter so I didn't let him. He knew he really couldn't do anything to help me so he was just there. And that was what I really needed. He was there for me." I didn't tell him about Steve crying. I shouldn't have told him anything.

Steve may be the most polite gentlman I know, but he's still a guy. Also, he'll never hear the end of it if Tony got wind of it.


	25. GADGETS MONTHLY

"Okay, you ready? Perfect, you look dazzling," I muttered briefly glancing at Peter as I finished hacking into the program. "Now we have files and positions. Fake, of course. If we were real body guards, we'd be Secret Service or something."

I snugged my blazer around my waist and smoothed my knee length skirt. "What are you doing?" I asked as I straightened Peter's tie. "I am a Secret Service body guard for the Secretary of State, and I have to watch him closely, and then get him safely in his car and back to the office after the speech. You?"

I had made it top priority for both of us to run through our parts before hand. "German representative and translator for the speech, and then I follow you at a safe distance down to the parking garage." I said simply. I tucked a pair of sunglasses in Peter's jacket pocket and made sure the spiraling ear communication device was working properly.

"Remember, this is a training exercise, so, nine times out of ten something will go wrong." I said, slipping into some flats. "Let's go," I said, pushing Peter out of the hotel and locking the door.

Soon, I was at a table marked 'Germany' with a headset, softly repeating in German what the Secretary of State said. I knew that Peter and a couple other body guards stood just out of sight on either side of the Secretary.

I kept an eye all along the room, knowing very well that everyone knew what was going on. When it was over, I followed the Secretary and his little army down the stairs, staying just out of sight. We went down one flight of concrete stairs, and I kept a lookout for anyone worthy of suspiscion.

I thought I saw a flash, but after closer inspection, saw nothing and continued down the stairs. We reached one of the parking garages, but not the right one. I heard quiet gunfire. Not from real bullets, though...

I couldn't quite place what was being shot, but seeing as it was all procedure for the test, I watched the body guards form a protective circle around the Secretary and lead him toward a wall to take cover. I snuck back, swinging between the rails on the stairs case behind a shooter and knocked him out.

I was running back toward the Secretary when I noticed something with a digital tomer displayed on the screen. The device attached to the wall was a bomb. i skidded to a stop and walked up to it, not sure if it would do nothing, explode paint, smoke or what, so I took a quick scan of it.

Immediately setting to work, I blew the hair out of my eyes and heard more gunfire. The shooting came closer and I deactivated the bomb. Stepping back, I jumped up, spun and kicked the device, shattering it. I heard footsteps below me. Grabbing a pipe above my head, I swung myself up, grabbed the railing and landed above the attackers.

Knocking them each out as I came, I made my way back toward the Secretary. When I finally got down to him, he was getting in his car. I walked past him, got in our car and pulled out ahead of them. I turned in the opposite direction, watched them from the rearview mirror and then turned the car around.

I followed them to the office, parking in the garage and going inside with them. "Congratulations," the Secretary praised. "You've passed the beginner test," he said. I found that this was a SHIELD HeadQuarters, and realized how much I missed it. The director gave Peter and I both mission reports to give to our teachers and we headed home.

* * *

The next month, I continued working on my gas. I contemplated adding diluted chlorine to the mixture, but decided not to. It is a one time only gas, and I quickly took care of myself when I accidently gassed myself. It knocked me out and Peter had to find an antidote in eight minutes, which he barely did, to bring me back.

"Too strong," I had surmized, and kept working on it. When it came time for our next mission test, I had them in capsules around my wrist like Natasha's Widow Bite and Peter's web slingers. A group of five men had advanced upon me, I had triggered the gas release and proceeded to fight them with a mixture of martial arts.

In the cloud of smoke that both blinded and disoriented, I easily defeated them. When the smoke cleared, all five were out cold on the floor.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school: 1 year and 2 months—

I gassed Peter's room again, just for the kick of it. Then I ruined one of his shirts by squirting fake blood all over it. I am pleased to report that I managed to get Peter to hit a girl! Yes, he slapped me in the face. I am bound and determined to make him lose it and clock me in the jaw.

My next gadget proiect for this month is battery bombs. I found out how to make tiny bombs in triple A's and double A's. I now have batteries rolling around my drawer with explosions that measure up to Fourth of July Sparklers to a land mine. Those were car batteries, of course.

And, of course, I tested them on Peter. His flashlight, I found, was something he used regularly. So I did a bit of switching and when he turned it on, there was a loud pop and the bulb broke. Needless to say, Peter made me buy a new flashlight. For Mission Test #3, I used my battery bombs. Sticking two nine volts together with duct tape and wiring a timer to them, I set it and ran.

The power of the explosion blew the door off the hinges and I was able to get in the computer room to deactivate a missile-carrying drone plane.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school— 1 Year, 3 months—

Electric marbles. Awesome, huh? Unfortunately, Peter didn't agree. So I spent this entire month coming up with a new gadget and he doesn't even congratulate me! Of course, I dropped two under his blankets...

Why that boy lets me in his dorm perplexes me. Those little buggers are pretty hot, too. I've numbed my fingers so much I thought they were going to fall off. Maybe I should make a paintball type gun to shoot them from—wait! They're the exact size as paintballs...a bit heavier though.

Mission Test #4 did give me a perfect testing ground for my new electric marbles. I had a pistol that shot them now, but I also enjoyed throwing them. Are they hot all the time, you ask? No.

Peter would argue that, but you're not Peter, now are you? Didn't think so. Anyway, I was trying to stop the transaction of explosing items in a pawn shop. The seller was walking in the store when I shot him three times from behind. He collapsed, unconscios.

The pawn shop owner thought he had a heart attack. Now that was one convincing conversation. I near shot the owner myself.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school: 1 year, 4 months—

Electro-magnetic-pulse was the gadget of the month. Obviosly one of my favorites. Peter, however, didn't like how I fried his phone. He almost—almost!—hit me that time. Sorry to say, though, that I screwed up my sPad. It bit the dust.

If you've ever seen one of those hand-held lazed pointers that tell you the temperature of whatever your pointing at on the screen, that's what the pulse device looks like. It particularly came in handy when we were chasing armed robbers on motorcycles during Mission Test #5.

I was bent over the handlebars, weaving in and out of oil drums. The four robbers were in front of me on red Hondas and yellow Kawasakis. peter came up beside me, both of us on blue Yamahas. I turned the bike so my knee scraped the grass, jumped over a pallet and pointed my EMP device at them.

Their bikes sputtered and died, leaving them to roll off, where we caught them and dragged them back to SHIELD.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school: 1year, 5 months—

No gadgets this month. I got to go to Mexico as Iron Eagle and stop some illegal drug cartels. That was Mission Test #6, so I had to be careful. I didn't use the computerized missiles, that would have surely killed somebody.

I had SOCA keep the pulser blasts on five percent energy, were I shot at the band of seven men, grabbed all of the drugs and tossed them at my teacher's feet. Cool part? The 'drugs' were milk powder, which the teacher gave to all of the students. That was an interesting experience.

No, Peter did not join me on that expidition, but I got it done in two hours. Take that, web head. I have got to thank Dad again for the Iron Eagle suit. It is so cool.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school: 1 year 6 months—

We used Katana swords. Interesting fact—some of these swords are made of Japanese sand in the old days. I thought about adding swords to my SHIELD uniform, but I decided not to, seeing as that would make me loo too weird.

But they were cool. Dull, but cool. None of the teachers allowed is to use sharpened swords on missions. Dang. So, in one month, we learned to use Katan swords and Shruikan Stars. The throwing stars, I might add to my attire.

Mission Test #7: Peter and I were up against a big time fencer who was suppossed to be killing people on a grudge. He was fast, too. But I had learned to be ambidextrous long ago, and swinging teo Japanese swords in a steady rythm was no problem for me. I ended up just knocking the flat of my blade against four major pressure points, knocking him out.


	26. Home!

Time having been at SHIELD school: 1 year 7 months—

Injection ring. Cool, but cliche? I agree. I'm leaning more towards the cool part, though. So there is a little capsule at the top. You can pour any syrum or injection in it, take the cap off to reveal a tony needle and prick someone discreetly.

This time, however, I was the one who regretted testing it on Peter. No, he hasn't hit me yet. Word of advice—never inject a genetically-mutated-spider-human with epinepherin when he doesn't need it. He went absolutely bonkers and, compliments of me, got quite a head ache as the aftermath:

I knocked on Peter's door. He opened it, looking at me warily. I held up my arms. He wouldn't dare do a pat-down search. I'd kill him. Visual inspection had better suit him, cause that's all I would allow. I went in and quietly popped the cap off my ring.

We sat down at the couch and he rested his hand on the empty cushion between us. I put my hand on his, and he tensed. The needle went into a vein, but he didn't give any acknowledgement of noticing. Five minutes later I realized my mistake.

Peter was running laps around his room, trying to dispose of extra energy, daring me to do push ups and crunches compititions and finally started acting stupid questions. i guess epinepherin goes to the brain.

I answered idiotic questions like 'is Laughy Taffy the capital candy of Virginia?' Or 'Do cows eat grass?' Believe me, if you thought that was boring, there was more. Oh...headaches upon headaches worth more. Then he did something that really crossed the line.

I was leaning up against the wall, watching him recote as many digits as pi as he could when he stopped counting and started staring at me intently. "What?" I frowned. "You are beautiful..." "Cut the crap, Parker," I rolled my eyes.

He moved forward so his hand was on my cheek. I moved it away. "back off, Peter. Personal space..." I spread my arms wide. He backed up and came in close again, until there was nothing between us, pressing his lips to mine.

To my utter dismay, for some reason, he held me captive and I couldn't move. His lips moved against mine and I just stood there. It was when his hands fell on my waist that snapped me out of it. I shoved him away, jumped up and kicked him so hard in the head he was out cold when he hit the ground.

Never ever ever ever give Peter Parker Epinepherine.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school: 1 year 8 months—

No gadgets this month. Mission Test #8 was a race between our cars and a prison escapee's from the Leavenworth Prison Base. The stretch of rode seemed to go on for ever. We chased him for probably fifteen minutes before Peter got car enough behind and I got close enough to use my EMP.

we got the prisoner back into the prison base and then drove back toward the SHIELD school where we were given 110% grades in all of our classes. Hey, sunny side=I now know how to cook!

Four more months till I can go home. I'm nineteen years old. I can't wait.

* * *

Time having been in SHIELD school: 1 year 9 months—

I built a motorcycle with Peter's help in engineering class. It was a Suzuki race bike, white and blue. The frame was from Japan. Good thing, too. If it had been Chinese I would have slapped my teacher. I finally decided to use the epinepherine episode as black mail against Peter when he threatened to take all the credit for thr motorcycle.

You should have seen his face when I told him what happened. And in addition, he wouldn't stop apologizing. So I poisoned his dinner. He was sick for a day and then got over it. We were even. What could I Say? He finally shut up.

* * *

Time having been at SHIELD school: 2 years—

I'm going home today! I couldn't believe it! The long car ride only boosted my spirits, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I felt when adrenaline-hyped up Peter kissed me. He's going to use that against me in the future. I know it. even though he knows but doesn't like that he did it, I have to get back at him.

Again.

Tony, Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Thor were all in the lab when we got home. Steve wasn't there. Everyone was shouting and Pepper kept squeezing me to death. "I'm gonna go find Steve," I said after a while, picking up my bags.


	27. Inner Conflict

I set down my bags silently, looking into Steve's room. His back was turned to me—he was looking out the window, hands in his pockets. I smiled and shrieked, "OH MY GOSH, ITS CAPTAIN AMERICA!"

Steve spun around, surprise evident on his face. His hands fell out of his pockets. "Shiloh!" A smile grew on his face. I ran to him, barreling right into his warm embrace. Even though my chin came up to his shoulder, I still had to reach up.

"Missed ya, cap," I smiled, backing off. "Can you believe Loki's still in confinement?" He asked, looking me up and down and then refocusing on my face. "No. Are you serious?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," Steve laughed.

"Okay. It's early, but I'm tired. Night," I picked up my bags and walked back to the elevator.

The next morning, I found a note on the door—"Pepper and I are going to be out all day, Natasha and Clint are on a mission and won't be back until tonight, Thor's on the helicarrier until tomorrow, Bruce is with him, and Peter's not coming back from wherever he went until tonight. You and the cap can do whatever: Tony—I smirked and wadded the paper up to throw in the trash.

"Allo, Cap'n'Crunch," I greeted Steve, who was in the kitchen. "You sound like your dad," I pointed my spoon at him. "He's my dad...where do you think I got it?"

"What are you doing?" Steve furrowed his brow. "Seperating eggs," I raised my eyebrows. "Why...?" "I don't like yolk very much," I shrugged. Steve shook his head. "Okay..."

After breakfast, Steve and I worked out in the gym, competing most of the way through. Then we went for a run outside and got lunch. "We should toss some gas grenades in Peter's room," I commented when we got back.

"Why would we do that?" Steve asked. "Dunno. Its fun. I did it a couple times in California." Steve's jaw clenched and he stopped talking. When we got up to the living room, and he was noticeably different, I asked, "Are you mad at me?"

"Doesn't matter what I think." What kind of an answer is that? "Of course it does! Steve, what are you talking about? I value your opinions greatly!" I protested. Steve sat on the couch and I sat beside him. "I don't like that you went to a school to learn how to lie, kill people and kiss men." Steve admitted.

I didn't know what to say. "Steve...this is what I do. This is what I'm good at. But I don't kill people unless I have to, and besides that, the worst part about my job is kissing targets and Peter, even!" I exclaimed. "I saw the video. The test-mission. You kissed him twice."

"Okay, in my defence, the first time, he kissed me. And the second time, I made us look like two love-struck teenagers who wandered a bit out of the way and we didn't get caught." I murmured, hoping I was helping my own case.

Steve stared at me for a long time. "Shiloh, you're nineteen. How many men have you kissed? Ten? Thirtee—?" I silenced him by, very lightly and carefully placing my lips on his. When I moved away he stared at me again. "Three, now," I responded, whispering.

I got up. "Want something to drink?" I asked. He shook his head. I got a drink of water and came back, leaving my cup in the kitchen. Steve was sprawled out on the couch, and I grinned down at him. "Comfy?" I asked.

He nodded again, frowning. "Three?" He repeated. "Uh-huh. One man on a mission, Peter—on missions, of course—and you." I twisted my lips. "One other man. Sorry, Shiloh. I was assuming..." "No problem. I try my hardest to avoid as much physical contact with targets as possible. Plus, I'm still uncomfortable around men. The Avengers are about as close as I've gotten," I admitted.

"I didn't know you were still struggling—" I sent Steve a sharp look. "Rape isn't something you get over—(I snapped my fingers)—just like that." I informed him quietly. "And don't worry about it. You're on my good side," I said, curling up on the other couch with a book.

I was walking down the hall towards the elevator, later on, when someone caught my wrist. I turned. Steve paused. I was in shock as he put his left hand on the base of my skull and leaned down. He kissed me, soft and lasting, but it felt friendly, nothing more.

"Good night, Shiloh." Steve winked at me, turned around, and left. Dazed, I went to the elevator, and realized it was already open. Peter stared at me, agape. "Problem?" I asked, steeling my face. Flabberghasted, he shook his hand.

"I just didn't know you two were a—" "We're not." I said sharply, silencing him. "And this won't leave this elevator. Got it, JARVIS?" I growled. "Of Course, Miss Stark." JARVIS's automated voice assured me. "Peter?" I glared at him. He nodded, only slightly phased by my scowl.

"I'm taking a shower." I said, getting off at my level. "See ya 'round, love bird." Peter smirked, but something flashed in his eyes. "Oh, great," I smacked myself after the door closed. "Now he thinks I'm a slut or something." I snatched a towel off the rack and stalked to the bathroom.

When I came out, dressed in a tank top and leggings, Tony was sitting on my bed, looking at a sPad. "Whatcha doin'?" I asked. Tony pushed something on the pad and handed it to me. "What were you doing? You'd better explain before I waltz downstairs and kill him in his sleep."

"JARVIS..." I sighed as I watched the film of Steve kissing me. "I'm assuming you watched our conversation, too?" I asked, handing it back. "Sure I did. But that didn't explain why he had to kiss you. Again." "Maybe he was just saying goodnight? I have no idea why he did!" I threw up my hands.

"Its not like you didn't go kissing everyone you thought was attractive." I grumbled. "Okay, one, I've kissed no one but Pepper since we've gotten married. Two, I've never kissed you ans you're one of the most attractive people in the world, and three, you think Steve's attractive?" Tony lay back on my bed.

"What the—I never said that!" I protested. "And Dad?" I called as he got up to leave. "Please don't tell anyone about this, or give Steve a hard time." I pleaded. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. I shouldn't have kissed Steve. I turned off the lights and got under the blankets.

I don't know why I did it in the first place. I guess this was getting back at myself for falling still under Peter's kiss. I realized I was mad at myself. Relationships are weaknesses. Compromises.

Why _does_ Peter captivate me? I mean, lately, he's caused me to feel dizzy, even though I hide it. And I swear my heart doesn't beat that fast when I fly. And literaly, I fly. I shot up in the darkness. With a start, my mind came to a conclusion.

I was in love with Peter Parker.


	28. Criminal Similarities

Panic set in immediately and I began hyperventilating. I switched on my bedside lamp, pressed my hand to my heart and forced my brain to override my body's reaction. I slammed my fists to the side of my head and growled loudly through my teeth.

Throwing the covers back so hard they landed on the floor, I walked outside. I stood on the balcony, leaning over the railing as I contemplated my new discovery. Finally in control of my body, I sighed shakily. I heard shouts, a crash and then another panicked masculine yell.

I looked toward the sound, saw a flash of red and blue, and rolled my eyes. Spider Man swung towards Avengers Tower. I watched as he angled away from his own balcony. Shooting a web at the wall above the glass door, Spider Man slid down his little vine upside down.

I tilted my head, biting my lip. "Who was the lucky girl tonight?" I teased. "Excuse me? Bank robber. Not a girl though." Spider Man retorted. "Bank Robber, female victim, same thing," I joked, closing the matter.

"I'm sorry." I said, breaking the silence five minutes later. "For..." "Hold on a second. I reached up and unplugged all three surveillance cameras. Even though Dad promised he wouldn't look at my room's video cameras, I'm pretty sure he'd be watching me closely tonight.

"For the thing. In the elevator." I said slowly. "Oooh...that." Spider Man breathed, jumping down beside me and pulling off his mask. I edged a few feet away and leaned my back against the rail to look at him. "I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have allowed it." I explained.

"Which part?" Peter wondered, raising an eyebrow and cracking his knuckles. I scowled. "Steve kissing me," That sentence didn't come out easily. Or smoothly. "Ah. So, why are you apologizing to me?" "Because I snapped at you in the elevator." I shrugged.

"It was wrong of me to do. I was just tense, confused and..." I mouthed 'scared' but sadly he had been taught to read lips and saw. "I see." His eyebrows were raised again. "Well. I'm going to bed. Goodnight." I jumped headfirst off the balcony and I watched him plummet toward the ground, shoot a web and fly up above me.

He saluted as he passed, and I wondered how I could love such a teenager.

the next morning I managed to avoid talking to Steve. I got in my SHIELD uniform, threw a few weapons in a backpack and took out my Iron Eagle suit. After it encased itself around me, I picked up the backpack, walked out to the balcony and asked, "Got me the location of the helicarrier?"

SOCA confirmed and showed me where. I powered up the thrusters and shot into the sky, headed towards the nearly invisible aircraft. I landed in the hanger, and went to my room. I stuffed my Iron Eagle carrying case under the bed, strapped on my thigh holster and slid a few of the gadgets on my belt.

"Agent Stark, good to see you back," Fury gripped my hand in a strong shake and I offered him a small smile, inserting my ear piece. Not the hidden one, the one that looked like a slender jawbone device for Bluetooth. "Thor," I patted his back as I walked with him to the containment cell.

"Your brother still in captivity? I'm surprised," "So am I, to be honest. I am afraid Loki is scheming something great," Thor admitted. I looked at the new green tinted glass container and glared at Loki. He smiled gloatingly at me and paced the cell. "Dear girl, I've missed you. With the mouse away, with what shall the cat play?" Loki feined a concerned look.

"Oh, you're completely healed from our last little party, aren't you?" I didn't answer. "If you touch her, Loki, all of Earth shall have your head." Thor threatened. Loki merely laughed. "Oh, I'm deathly afraid now! Do I look scared to you, Agent Romanoff?" I turned as the spy walked up behind us.

"There isn't a word in the world to describe what you look like, Loki." Natasha said coolly. "Stark, Fury wants you in the tech room." I turned and went back to the main computer room. Tony was there, talking to Fury with a cup of steaming coffee. I saw Steve, Clint, Bruce and Peter off to the side.

"Director?" I addressed him, straightening politely. "Good. Now that you're all gathered," Thor and Natasha joined us quickly. "I have reason to believe that whatever Loki is planning is moving into motion now." "Why is that?" Steve asked. "Four illegal drug dealers, all across the country were all killed in churches at the exact same time. One hour later, three scientists were killed in their own labs."

Fury looked around the group of Avengers. "In LA, there were thirteen rapes going on in a period of two weeks. Out of which came four deaths, five injuries and four pregnancies—," "Isn't that a job for the FBI?" Clint inturrupted. Fury scowled. "Yes, but that big of a disturbance in those neighborhoods around the time that the deaths with the dealers and scientists makes me believe that everything should be looked into.

"Shiloh, you're going with the FBI as a specialist agent from another district to get this rape problem solved," Fury said. "In Russia, forty nuclear missils were stolen from three different plants. Two of the plants have Red Skull as a signature mark on their missils. Captain, Romanoff, I want you in Russia." Fury directed.

"In Africa, several people were killed by poison that traces back to the killed drug dealers. Clint I want you there to investigate. And, on top of that, I have more bad news." Everyone looked like dying from all of the overwhelming information, and waited for his words hesitantly.

"We found this on YouTube twenty minutes ago." Fury gestured for the video to be put on a large screen. "Oh—," I knew Tont was going to release a nasty string of curses so I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, even though I myself felt like I had been blown through with a canon ball.

The video was ghastly. Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Pepper Stark were bound and gagged in a dark room, covered in cuts and bruises. A low, growling voice said, "If you want to see your lovers again, leave us alone." I fought the tears from coming, seeing Pepper all cut and burned.

"The baby..." Tony whispered ever so softly. My heart caught in my throat and stayed there. "She was pregnant?" I whispered in his ear. He didn't reply, only gave a shaky breath. "Stark, Thor, you're going to wait until Parker and Banner have those locations and then you're going to get the girls." Fury dismissed us with a sad nod and walked away. I slumped against the table.

Tony's hand landed on my back, and I saw the faraway look in his eyes. "I get Pepper and Jane," Clint nodded to Tony and Thor. "But why Darcy?" Natasha looked equally confused. I remembered Peter dancing with her at the gala that Tony hosted before he got married, but Peter looked as perplexed as the rest of us.

"I'll get my things then," Peter muttered, heading for the hanger. I grabbed my backpack, suited up and flew down to the Tower with him. "I'm taking my Agusta," I said, slipping my leathers over my clothes and putting on my backpack. Peter followed me down to the lab, duffel in hand. I wheeled the black motorcycle out to the corner and mounted.

"You can ride all the way to California?" Peter raised an eyebrow, following. "Yeah. Done it before," I looked up at him, feeling a smile creep onto my face. "You've got to be careful. Whoever's got the other ladies will get you too if they have the cha—!" I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, whispering, "If I'm no body's lover, why would they get me?"

I challenged, waiting for an answer. "Because you're an Avenger." The answer drove my heart into the ground. So I was nobody's lover after all. I let go of Peter and kick started the Agusta. "Hasta Lavista," I said, driving away.


	29. Diversions and Angry Directors

"Good morning. Special Agent Karissa Brittan." I shook Agent Dave Johnson's hand. (Dennis Haysbert) "Glad you're with us," He greeted, though the way he looked at me suggested that he didn't believe someone so young could be of much use.

"Would you mind telling me what you've found?" I wondered. "Of course. Follow me," Johnson passed all the cubicles and went into an office. There were two other agents, John Craig (Kiefer Sutherland) and Gloria Wilson (Moon Bloodgood)

"These are the thirteen girls. Numbers 3, 4, 7, and 9 were raped and then killed. Numbers 1, 2, 5, 8, and 10 were injured and are now in the hospital. And then numbers 6, 11, 12 and 13 ended up pregnant." Johnson said. I immediately had sympathy for these girls. "How do these girls know they're pregnant already?" I asked, it suddenly striking me as peculiar.

Johnson furrowed his brow. "Wait a minute, you've got a point there..." Craig handed him some files and Johnson rifled through them. "Okay, I'm going to talk to the pregnant girls. I suggest someone going to see the injured ones too, to see if they saw anything." I said.

"Got it. Craig, you're with her. Wilson, with me." Johnson and Wilson left, and Craig led me out to his Sedan.

* * *

The first girl, Amy, hesitantly let us into her home. I felt intruding, even though we flashed our badges in her face. "Can you tell me anything about this man?" I asked. "I don't have a picture, I'm sorry," Amy murmured. I noticed bandages up her arms and red blotches on her neck.

"That's fine, that's alright," I soothed, asking a bit more specifically, "Were his hands rough or smooth? What kind of voice did he have?" "His hands...his hands were rough. Like he does a hard job. He had a smooth, eerie voice," Amy started shaking.

"That's good, you're doing great, sweetheart, now tell us, what kind of attitude did he have?" Craig asked softly. "Um...kind of arogant. Like a teenager. He didn't sound like he was capable of raping thirteen women." Amy muttered.

I gave Craig a look. He nodded and walked away. "Amy, you were raped two weeks ago. How do you know you're pregnant?" "I went to the doctor..." Amy explained, and began crying. "Okay, thank you so much," I took her hand. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

We had no more luck with the rest of the girls. Except that their answers were all the same. "Does something seem fishy to you?" I asked as we drove towards the FBI. "Yeah. I don't like how it seems that they're all reading a script." Craig said. I nodded. "That's what I was thinking. But why?" "Its like the bad guy is trying to make himself look worse. Now why would they do that?" Craig frowned.

"We'll see what Johnson has," I decided.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Johnson glared at the screens of girls. "Rough hands, smooth voice, arrogant attitude." Wilson patted Johnson's shoulder as she walked by. "Can I see this?" I pointed to a computer. Wilson nodded. I searched hospital records. "That proves that," I sighed. "The pregnant girls never went to the hospital. Any hospital."

"Hey, check this out." Craig turned up the TV "its that Loki guy." "Bastard." I muttered. Then I realized what happened. The Avengers are scattered across the world, and here Loki is, crashing through New York. I glanced down at the phone in my hand and hit the volume button.

My phone rang. "Sorry guys. Gotta take this." I stepped out and talked to no one. Wen I stepped back in, I explained. "Excuse me. An urgent case has come up and I have to go. I'm leaving this in your more than capable hands," I said and jogged out the door. My phone rang seconds later. "Stark! I need you back in NYC pronto! It was a diversion!" Fury shouted.

"that's what I gathered. I'm on my way." I was a day late in getting to NYC, broke a couple traffic laws, used my SHIELD badge to get through without a ticket, and arrived at Avengers Tower right as Clint showed up. "Sorry I'm late," I apologized, running inside. "Nothing you can do about that now. Hurry up and get ready—this is Chitauri smash down all over again." Clint yelled from the kitchen.

"No it ain't Happy Archer!" I shouted back. "I've got a suit this time!" I was already in the elevator when Clint looked around the corner and stuck his tongue out at me. I grabbed my suit's case, ran up to Tony's big balcony and stepped on it. Sticking my hands in the gloves I waited while it plated around me and the lights came on.

"That is so cool. I will never get over that." I turned. Spider Man stood beside me. "I know, right?" Iron Man landed in front of me. "Turns out, everything was a fake. Except they've still got my wife and Thor's girlfriend." He growled. I put a metalized hand on his shoulder.

"Dad, we'll get them back. I promise," I said, hearing my voice come out a bit computerized. "All right, let's go!" Steve's voice shouted through my computer system. Iron Man, Spider Man and I alighted to the ground and waited for orders.


	30. War and Parody

"Do you never give up?" I demanded, staring at Loki. I was right beside Iron Man, following Cap's orders. "Give what up? I will not be finished until your world is destroyed!" Loki laughed. "Look, if you want drama, you can get drama at an opera. Or Shakespear!" Tony shouted, raising his arms.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Loki spat. I raised an eyebrow. He seriously didn't know? My face plate flipped up. "Ah, yes. Iron Lady." He clasped his hands. "Nope," the face plate snapped down and my blasters hummed. "Iron Eagle to you, dirtbag."

I shot and he moved aside, but was bombarded with blue blasts of energy. He picked up his sceptar and pointed it at me. I held up my hand, leveling it out with the blue spear. I shot as soon as he did. The rays of light collided, creating a blue ball of forming energy.

I stepped forward, pushing. Loki's face contorted into a concentrated frown. Iron Man took his distraction as a cue and switched all power to his reactor. Energy exploded from his chest piece, knocking Loki off his feet. The suit I was in kept me from swaying, but barely.

I saw an arrow whiz past my ear and I turned. A dead alien lay on the ground. I looked up on the roof in front of me. "Thanks," I said. "No Prob, Shy," Hawkeye responded, turning and shooting another pod. Loki got up again, hefting his sceptar. I powered up my thrusters and shot up, and then killed them, landing heavily on Loki.

He threw me off, and I landed with hard clunks on the ruined pavement. Groaning, I picked myself up. Iron Man shot continuous blasts at Loki and I tried to come up with a weak spot. A huge green hand wrapped around Loki's legs and he went flying. Hitting a building, Loki fell to the ground. Hulk stood in his place, but ran toward him.

"Shiloh, behind you!" Hawkeye shouted. I turned, but got caught by a pod and went flying. I shot a repulser blast at the driver and the pod started to go down. I realized my leg was caught in a bar and I couldn't yank it loose.

Aiming my wrist right at the bar, I fired the laser and it cut right through the metal. I plummeted toward the ground, trying to get in the position to fire up the thrusters. When I finally got under control, Hulk was tossing Loki into buildings while Thor shot lightening at any alien that came nearby.

Iron Man was shooting them, Natasha had Loki's sceptar and was beating them by the second, Spider Man was stringing them up in webs. I landed on the roof next to Hawkeye. "Suit looks good on you. Just...not so spy like," He commented. I shrugged. "Yeah, well. I like the spy look when I'm doing something fast and quiet. But something like this? I think the suit is more effective."

* * *

All of the aliens were gone. Loki was groaning on the pavement. Iron Man clomped up to him. Grabbing him by the throat, Iron Man held him against a building. I joined him, glaring at the God of Mischief.

"Where are they?" Iron Man growled. "I know not who you speak of," Loki smiled weakly. "Virginia. Potts. Jane. Foster. And Darcy. Louis." Iron Man seperated each word. "Oh—oh, you're girlfriends?" Loki sneered. With his other fist, iron Man punched him in the jaw.

"Answer the question," I said warningly. "Oh, you scare me." Loki mocked. "You're a girl. A girl that I myself have tortured. Now you're here to torture me. I'm shaking." "Yeah you are," Iron Man spat. "Tell me. Now." "I'll tell you if you give me her," Loki tossed his head in my direction.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Iron Man roared, shoving Loki harder into the wall. My fists clenched. Peter and Captain America were on either side of me. "That is the deal, Metal Man. You can have your daughter or your wife. But not both." Loki smiled sickeningly at Iron Man. "And why not?" "Because its not fair. You have two lovely women in your possession—"

"Excuse me?! In my _possession_?! Shiloh and Pepper are their own people. You have no right to accuse me of claiming _ownership_ of human beings!" Iron Man shouted. Hawkeye was clenching his jaw, I could hear his teeth gnashkng together in my ear piece. Natasha came up right beside me.

"It is your choice, Stark. Your wife. Or your daughter."

"What would become of me if I went with you?" I asked, fighting down the urge to take it back.

"Shiloh..." Natasha whispered. "Every King wants a Queen." Loki replied. Feel crept like ice into my heart. "But you'll let the women go?" I asked. "If you come with me." Loki no longer had venom in his voice. Strange.

"Shiloh. Don't you dare." Iron Man growled. "And you'll leave the Avengers and the world alone?" I continued. "...yes." "...Then I will go." I said, squeazing my eyes shut. Hawkeye was suddenly beside me. "No." He said. "Hawkeye, I have to," I whispered. "No you don't."

"Loki, can I have five with my team?" I requested. "Five minutes. But you are not permitted to bring your armor." Loki seemed to have changed. I nodded. Iron Man dropped Loki to the ground and followed me. When the Avengers were in a circle, me in the middle, I allowed the suit to detatch from me, leaving me in my SHIELD uniform.

"This is the God of Mischief." Thor said gently. "I don't believe a word he says." "Thor, I will see to it personally that Jane is returned safely." I promised. He opened his arms and I stepped into them, tears pricking at my eyes. I stepped back, and picked up my suit's case. Tony had momentarily stepped out of his armor.

"Shiloh, I can't let you do this." He said. "Dad, you said it yourself. I am my own person. I can't risk the life of Pepper. Or the baby," I whispered the last part, tears sliding down my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around him, holdin him tightly and wishing I never had to let go. "I love you, Dad. You are the best dad ever." I kissed his cheek, stepped back, and handed him the suit.

I turned to Natasha. "Take a tracking chip?" She suggested. "Loki's too smart for that," I shook my head. For once I saw tears brim in the assasin's eyes. I stepped into her warm embrace. "Don't cry, Agent Romanoff. Barton's watching," I teased, backing away. She punched my shoulder lightly. "See ya round, Kiddo." I nodded.

"Clint," I clenched my jaw. "Please don't, Shy." "You know I have to. I might be able to save you guys, the city, and the women." I reasoned. "You'd be his wife?" Clint demanded. "If it meant saving all of you." I nodded. "I respect you, Shiloh. I respect your judgment," He conceded. I crashed into his arms, knowing I would miss Clint alot.

I squeazed my eyes shut when I saw that Steve was next. "I saw what they did to you last time you were in Loki's custody." He said through clenched teeth. "I know. I don't think he'll do it again." I said, my voice cracking. "Steve..." I slowly walked forward and flung my arms around the soldier. I breathed in the smell of Kevlar and blood. Steve squeazed me tightly.

When I came face to face with Peter, my heart flew up into my throat. I was agreeing to go with Loki when the man I loved stood in front of me. When I came into contact with the Spandex, I realized that he may look and act like a goofy teenager, but he's really a man. Responsible, mature, caring...

I tightened my arms around him. "I'm gonna miss you, Arachnus Deathicus." I teased. "Don't go, Shiloh." "Peter..." He pressed his lips to mine, and I forgot all about the Avengers, and Loki. But then it ended and I was crying again. I stood in front of the Hulk, waiting. He morphed down slowly, and Bruce Banner stood in front of me.

"You take care of yourself, Shiloh." He said. "You know it, Bruce." I hugged him warmly, shaking from sobs. When I stepped back and turned a full circle, I made myself stop crying and stand squarely. "You guys have been a heck of a team. And a family. It's been an honor working with you." I saluted. Clint, Natasha, Peter, Steve and Tony saluted back. Thor and Bruce bowed.

"Shiloh." Loki waited. My gaze lingered on Peter before I walked slowly, limping slightly, to Loki. He held out his hand. Begrudgingly, I took it.

* * *

**_Thanks for reading Shiloh Stark! I do admit I thought I'd have more than 7 reviews for a 30 chapter story, but I guess not. Anyway, if you are interested, I will start the sequel—Shiloh Stark: Determination—as soon as possible. _**


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